Yearbook—1981

Title Page/​Publishers’ Page

1981 Yearbook of Jehovah’s Witnesses

Containing Report for the Service Year of 1980

Also Daily Text and Comments

Jehovah’s Witnesses are happy to be sharing the hope of the good news, which is being preached in all creation that is under heaven.​—Col. 1:23

Index of Countries

Page

24 1980 Service Year Report, 205 Countries

Acts of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Modern Times in:

34 El Salvador

144 Ivory Coast

193 Upper Volta

207 New Zealand

260 Yeartext for 1981

261 Daily Text and Comments

1981 Yearbook of Jehovah’s Witnesses

Serving Jehovah, a God of Unity

“JEHOVAH our God is one Jehovah.” Thus the prophet Moses reminded his people Israel of that important fact in his farewell speech to them. (Deut. 6:4) From his further inspired words, as well as from the rest of the Scriptures, we learn that Jehovah God is also almighty, all-wise, perfect in justice and the personification of love, of unselfishness. Since “there is more happiness in giving than there is in receiving,” and Jehovah God is the “Giver of every good gift and every perfect present,” it follows that he must be a supremely “happy God.”​—Acts 20:35; Jas. 1:17; 1 Tim. 1:11.

From God’s inspired Word we also learn that Jehovah has hundreds of millions of spirit creatures who delight to ‘carry out his word.’ (Ps. 103:20; Dan. 7:9, 10) These are organized to form a heavenly universal organization. Thus we read of angels, cherubs, seraphs and of an archangel. All of these serve God’s purposes and work in perfect harmony, for Jehovah is a God, ‘not of disorder’ and confusion but of unity and peace. (1 Cor. 14:33) Upon the creation of Adam and Eve, Jehovah’s organization included earthly creatures. In the Scriptures God’s organization of intelligent persons is likened to a woman or a wife of God at Isaiah 54:1, a city at Galatians 4:26 and a chariot at Ezekiel, chapter 1.

Not only is Jehovah a happy God, but lovingly he desires all of his intelligent creatures to be happy. However, they cannot enjoy true and lasting happiness unless they remain in touch and in harmony with their Maker who is the Source of life. (Ps. 36:9) And all of God’s intelligent creatures were happily unified until some 6,000 years ago when one of these became ambitious of being like his Maker, Jehovah God, and so rebelled. Thereby he made himself Satan, that is, opposer, and Devil, that is, slanderer, thus becoming the first apostate. (John 8:44; Rev. 12:9) Resorting to lies Satan influenced the first human pair to apostatize, to fall away from the pure worship of Jehovah God and join him in his rebellion. With that rebellion, unhappiness, confusion, sin and death came into the world.

Thus there came to be two organizations in the universe, standing for opposite principles and strongly opposed to each other. Concerning the enmity between these two God foretold, at the very time of the rebellion in the garden of Eden: “I shall put enmity between you [the Serpent] and the woman [God’s heavenly organization], and between your seed and her seed.”​—Gen. 3:15.

TWO OPPOSING ORGANIZATIONS

Down through the corridors of time there have been comparatively few on earth who have loyally represented Jehovah and his organization and resisted Satan’s organization. Among these were Abel, Enoch, Noah, the patriarchs Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, Moses and a long line of faithful prophets as well as some of Israel’s kings, such as King David. But time and again the majority of that nation fell away from the pure worship of Jehovah and apostatized, taking the side of Satan. In fact, this was largely the situation when God sent Jesus Christ, his Son, to the earth.

Jesus Christ came to bear witness to the truth of God’s kingdom (as well as to give his life as a ransom for many) and he sent forth his followers to bear witness also. After his resurrection and shortly before his ascension into heaven he commissioned his followers ‘to make disciples of people of all nations, teaching them to do the things he had taught them to do.’​—Matt. 4:17; 28:19, 20; Luke 9:1, 2; 10:1-9; John 18:37.

From Pentecost onward it was apparent upon whom Jehovah God had poured out his holy spirit to carry on this work, and some of these took the lead by divine providence. Among them were the apostles and older men of the Christian congregation in Jerusalem. While these were yet alive, they served to keep the Christian congregation loyal to the truth of God’s Word. But upon their death apostates arose and took over, even as Jesus and the apostle Paul had foretold and warned.​—Matt. 13:24-30; Acts 20:29, 30.

By the year 325 these apostate Christians joined hands with the political rulers of the world. They became the dominant part of “Babylon the Great,” the world empire of false religion. Over the many centuries there has been constant spiritual warfare between Babylon the Great and the small band of true Christians loyal to the pure worship of Jehovah God.​—2 Thess. 2:3-12; Rev. 17:4, 5.

God’s Word foretold that in the last days there would be a restoration of pure worship, a harvesttime when there would be a collecting out of apostates, a separation between the “wheat” and the “weeds.” The first stages of this work began some 100 years ago. During this time faithful anointed Christians have served together as a continuing steward class.​—Matt. 13:40, 41.

THE STEWARD CLASS ORGANIZED FOR ACTIVITY

Today the “remaining ones” of God’s anointed children on earth, who form the last of the 144,000 members of spiritual Israel, are often referred to as the Christian “remnant.” They are still heavily involved in spiritual warfare with Satan and his religious womanlike organization of Babylon the Great. (Rev. 12:1, 17; 18:2, 4) At this late date this remnant number less than ten thousand on the earth. They have been brought together from many parts of the earth and for the past century have been organized for Christian preaching activity. (Matt. 24:31) Collectively they form the “faithful steward” as mentioned at Luke 12:42-44 or the “faithful and discreet slave” as referred to at Matthew 24:45-47. Representing this global congregation of anointed ones in their unified activity is a supervisory group of anointed elders designated as the Governing Body. This Governing Body, at present numbering 16 members, resides at the Brooklyn Bethel headquarters of the legal religious corporation known as the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society.​—Heb. 13:7, 17.

REPORTING INTERNATIONAL STEWARDSHIP

Stewards, according to the Bible, are required to be found faithful. (1 Cor. 4:2) Therefore, a periodic reporting of God-entrusted stewardship as to Jehovah’s earthly interests is proper and beneficial.​—1 Pet. 4:10; compare Luke 16:2 and Romans 14:4.

An annual report of their international stewardship hereby rendered by Jehovah’s Witnesses is open for scrutiny by all. (Isa. 43:10-12) It continues to provide evidence that Jehovah’s expanding organization in the four corners of the earth stands out as a distinct watchtower beacon of spiritual enlightenment amid a world of deepening darkness. (Isa. 60:1-3) In 205 lands Jehovah’s Witnesses form an international bulwark of righteousness, seeking first God’s kingdom and its interests. (Matt. 6:10, 33) By 1980 more than 2,250,000 of the “other sheep” have been added as associates to the small group of the remnant.​—John 10:16.

All these Witnesses serve together as a unified worldwide association of brothers under the remarkable invisible leadership of Jesus Christ. (Matt. 23:10; 1 Pet. 5:9) Christ guides this expanding association by means of his composite steward here on earth. Such involves a progressive spiritual feeding program of current Biblical information. This enables all associated ones to grow spiritually strong during these closing days of a rebellious, defiled human society.​—Luke 12:42.

Over the past 99 years Jehovah’s people serving with the Watch Tower Society have reported (generally annually) their preaching and teaching activity in connection with announcing the good news of God’s kingdom in the inhabited earth. (Matt. 24:14; 28:19, 20) Their first annual statement was presented in the January 1882 issue of Zion’s Watch Tower magazine, and it covered the work they accomplished in the year of 1881. This 1981 Yearbook of Jehovah’s Witnesses will follow the general pattern, set in 1926, of presenting the annual report of the previous service year, which ended August 31, 1980, as well as of publishing reports from other lands and setting forth the daily Bible texts and comments for the calendar year of 1981.

CENTURY OF GROWING UNIFIED ACTION

With this Yearbook Jehovah’s Witnesses enter their 100th year involving reports of their worldwide witnessing. Like their first-century Christian predecessors they have come to fill the whole earth with their preaching of the “good news.” (Rom. 1:8; Col. 1:23) No one human today could have led an active life of preaching for so long, and certainly no individual steward or slave could be credited with the phenomenal work accomplished during the past hundred years. Nor is it reasonable that one imperfect man after another in succession would be ‘appointed over all of Christ’s belongings on earth’ to serve, as the Roman Catholic pope claims to be, as vicegerent of Christ on earth. (Luke 12:44) Rather, the record and statistics prove that the work has been accomplished by that collective group of anointed Christian men and women who form the steward organization under Christ’s direction. This group has moved steadily forward with increasing spiritual understanding and effective fruitfulness as worldwide witnesses.​—Prov. 4:18; Matt. 24:45-47; Rev. 14:4, 6.

RESISTERS DO NOT PREVAIL

In spite of opposition from the world, particularly led by Christendom’s sectarian clergy, this nucleus of anointed Christians has endured as a separate unsectarian group distinguished by unity of action in rendering sacred service to the one true God. In recent decades hundreds of thousands of lovers of righteousness have gathered around this nucleus to share in sacred service as Jehovah’s Witnesses.​—Zech. 8:23; Rev. 7:9.

From time to time, inside the one growing flock, rebellious ones, apostates, have arisen to try to mislead some, even as foretold, and as was true in apostolic times. (1 Tim. 4:1; Rom. 16:17, 18) Such apostates have been promptly disfellowshiped. They have been unable to resist the power of Jehovah’s spirit upon his gathered people in these last days. (Joel 2:28, 29) Nothing can thwart the forward movement of Jehovah’s people who are now on the world stage championing Jehovah’s rightful Kingdom sovereignty over all the earth. (Compare 1 Corinthians 4:9.) With Jehovah’s guiding spirit upon this one Christian organization Jehovah’s people have survived unitedly in action ever stronger down to this year of 1981. They have gladly submitted themselves individually under the earthly administration of this divinely approved channel and its legal religious corporate agencies.

DEVELOPMENT OF TRUE CHRISTIAN CONGREGATIONS

What began on a small scale in the 1870’s and 1880’s in the United States in the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, area as a few congregations of Christian Bible Students has spread in a unified way to congregations numbering many thousands in 205 countries today. This organizational development made provisions for the members of the congregations to meet weekly with audience participation for Bible study and spiritual upbuilding. It also encouraged the individuals to respond as active field preachers to share the good news of God’s kingdom with the public.

In this way each Christian man and woman became an illuminator reflecting the light of Biblical truths to others. (Phil. 2:15) Jehovah’s modern Christian witnesses thus became a unified organization serving under the direction of local elders and ministerial servants in 43,181 congregations. Unitedly they beam forth as the light of the world, shining as a citylike organization upon a mountaintop.​—Matt. 5:14-16.

JEHOVAH, AN EARLY AND PROLIFIC SOWER

Foreknowing the coming of the “great tribulation,” Jehovah early arranged to send forth his anointed ones as a “watchman” class sounding out divine warnings even as did the prophets Jeremiah and Ezekiel of old. (Jer. 1:9, 10; 6:17; 21:11, 12; Ezek. 3:17; 33:7) Jehovah commenced this warning work more than a century ahead of time. Never has he taken divine action against unrighteous mankind until he has given them full warning! During the same period Jehovah progressively revealed many spiritual truths to his earthly anointed servants.​—Amos 3:7; Luke 18:7, 8.

In nature seed is always produced abundantly. It is then scattered abroad extensively. The seed Jehovah causes to be scattered over the field of the world of mankind is that of the Word of God. (Mark 4:14-20) Such Bible messages were put in printed form and distributed far and wide by the watchman class and its associates. Additionally, they proclaimed Bible truth publicly, using such opportunities as were available to them. During that hundred years they have used syndicated sermons in thousands of newspapers, addressed church groups, held public meetings, used audio-video presentations such as the Photo-Drama of Creation, radio and television; they engaged in street distribution of tracts and magazines; they made house-to-house visitations, conducted home Bible studies and have employed many other avenues of public discussion.

PHENOMENAL DISTRIBUTIONS

From 1879 to 1917 the busy “class workers” and the full-time “colporteurs” (now called pioneers) distributed Biblical tracts, magazines, pamphlets, Bibles and bound books to the vast number of 428,972,226. This work first started in the United States but soon the “seeds” in printed form were scattered to Europe, Africa, Latin America, Asia and on to the islands of the seas. This colossal work was done by earnest, humble men and women (assisted by their children also) as an evidence of their neighbor love and devotion as dedicated Christians.​—Lev. 19:18; Matt. 22:39.

Many of the public looked down on them. The clergy of Christendom ridiculed them from church pulpits and stirred up mobs against them. But in time their right to perform their apostolic type of ministry from house to house became recognized even by the Supreme Court of the United States. In the Murdock v. Pennsylvania case (1943) the Court said as to Jehovah’s Witnesses:

“We only hold that spreading one’s religious beliefs or preaching the Gospel through distribution of religious literature and through personal visitations is an age-old type of evangelism with as high a claim to constitutional protection as the more orthodox types.”

The clergy of Christendom were largely responsible for the imprisonment of eight of the headquarters staff of Jehovah’s people in 1918. Hundreds of other brothers were persecuted, imprisoned and hounded by mobs, which resulted in almost halting the public witness work in that year.​—Rev. 11:7-10.

USE OF PRINTING FACILITIES

In 1919 the faithful steward (slave) class was released from its Babylonian bands of restraint to reopen its worldwide preaching and teaching service. (Rev. 11:11, 12) Prior to 1920 the Society published its literature on commercial presses at quite some expense. Appreciating that now a tremendous work lay ahead, the Society began to establish its own printeries, beginning first with one in the United States. In the course of time magazines have come to be printed on the Society’s presses in 28 other countries. And there are still 14 countries where outside presses are used to produce our literature. Following is the chart that covers the activities for the past hundred years. As can be noted, the actual distribution of publications comes to the staggering number of nearly 8 billion!

Distribution Chart of Worldwide Activity

Years Tracts & Pamphlets Magazines Bound Books Total

(Booklets)

1879 to

1917a 419,078,170 (Mags. included) 9,894,056 428,972,226

1918 102,775 13,140 256,609 372,524

1919 to

1980 2,322,888,592 4,767,784,340 450,642,739 7,541,315,671

Grand

Totals 2,742,069,537 4,767,797,480 460,793,404 7,970,660,421

These figures are just for field distribution and do not include the millions of Yearbooks and release-editions of new books. Nor do they include the millions of copies of the Society’s magazines that go to subscribers.

CONVINCING EVIDENCE PRESENTED WORLDWIDE

The above chart presents evidence of the diligent, hard work performed by Jehovah’s people on earth. The vast distribution comes to nearly 2 pieces of Biblical literature for each of the 4.4 billion of mankind living today. It has produced a fruitage of over two million Christians who stand as living dedicated witnesses of Jehovah. Indeed as Jesus said: “Wisdom is proved righteous by its works.” (Matt. 11:19) More than that, this vast preaching work has been part of the setting forth of convincing evidence warning the wicked world of mankind of its imminent destruction. Again Jesus said of our day: “When that one arrives [Christ Jesus as king] he will give the world convincing evidence concerning sin and concerning righteousness and concerning judgment.”​—John 16:8.

HOW FINANCED?

How was all this vast production and distribution of Bible literature financed over the past century? All by voluntary contributions and services from the zealous steward class and their growing number of associates. The very second issue of Zion’s Watch Tower magazine, August 1879, expressed confidence that it “has . . . JEHOVAH for its backer.” So from that day to this no money has been solicited. At their meetings no collection plates are passed as is done in the churches of Christendom. As funds have become available, the work of witnessing has expanded to provide additional printing and preaching facilities. Additionally, contributed money has been used to finance schools for the training of missionaries, pioneers and elders. No tuitions are charged.​—1 Chron. 29:9.

Through voluntary contributions local congregations finance the building and maintenance of their Kingdom Halls, and Assembly Halls for circuit assemblies. Congregations and individuals also send contributions to the Society’s headquarters in Brooklyn and to the 97 other branch offices. Such funds cover the construction and maintaining of printing factories, operating of Bethel and missionary residences, office operations as well as shipping departments. During 1980, 5,039 volunteer workers staffed the 98 branch facilities. Bethel family workers all receive a nominal financial allowance in addition to their room and meals. In the worldwide field there are 137,861 full-time preachers, men and women, in 205 countries.

The Watch Tower Society’s report for the year 1881 indicated that $35,336.18 (U.S.) was spent to supplement the preaching work that had started by means of distributing the printed page. This amount had been contributed voluntarily, and this has been the Society’s general policy ever since with reference to obtaining operational funds.

Through the years financial reports have been rendered as to the amounts spent in giving help to the Society’s full-time ministers in the field including its traveling overseers, missionaries and special pioneers. For the year 1979 the cost in American dollars had risen to $20,136,626.07. For the year 1980 just concluded the money spent comes to $22,588,894.17. All these large yearly expenditures are made possible by the generous contributions from Jehovah’s people in all parts of the earth.​—2 Cor. 9:10-14.

UNITY PROMOTED THROUGH BIBLE PUBLISHING

In addition to having become a vast house-to-house preaching organization that distributes an array of Bible study aids, the Watch Tower Society also has a long history as a Bible publishing Society. The following Bibles have been published under its corporate name:

1896 “Rotherham’s 12th Edition of the New Testament,” English

1901 “Holman Linear Bible” with the Society’s marginal notes

1944 “American Standard Version” of 1901. Features Jehovah’s name

In addition the Society publishes its principal translation, the New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures. From 1950 to 1960 this translation was released progressively in English in six volumes. Then in 1961 it was revised and released as one complete work. Finally a further revised edition in large print was published in 1971. This excellent modern fresh translation first released in English is now available, the whole or in part, in Danish, Dutch, Finnish, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese, Spanish and Swedish. Incidentally, in 1973 the New World Translation was rated by a British Bible handbook compiler as one of 14 main English translations of the 20th century. The total number of Bibles printed by the Society in 1980 exceeded the 1979 production by 1,397,660 copies. This brings the grand total of Bibles printed in ten languages at the Brooklyn factory from 1926 to 1980 to 43,860,991.

BIBLE TEXT NOW IN COMPUTER MEMORY

During 1980 the complete New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures has been keyed into a computer memory with provisions to protect its integrity. So with its new computer installation the Watch Tower Society in Brooklyn (and some of the branches in due course) has developed a computerized publishing system. The typographic composition of the pages and the phototypesetting are controlled by special computer programs uniquely designed by the Society.

1980 PRODUCTION REPORT OF BROOKLYN AND FARM FACTORIES

Following is the production report of the Society’s printing plants, from September 1979 through August 1980, in Brooklyn and at Watchtower Farms, U.S.A.

Bound Books and Bibles 29,701,307

Booklets 11,216,987

Magazines 201,134,170

Kingdom News tracts 41,151,244

Cassette tapes 1,462,717

Picture slides 689,300

In September of 1980 the third high-speed, four-color, rotary web offset press began to be installed in the Brooklyn factory. A fourth one of similar design, which is to be primarily used for the printing of Bibles, began to be installed the next month. In Japan during the past year a four-color web offset press was installed and produced hundreds of thousands of books before the end of the service year. Also, a four-color web offset press is being erected in Canada and another in the British Isles.

1980 PROGRAM OF BUILDING EXPANSIONS

This last year was one of the greatest as to expanding our branch facilities to keep up with increased publishing demands. Following are countries where additional facilities were acquired, built or started to be built or modified: Australia, Bahamas, Brazil, Britain, Canada, Colombia, Curaçao, Denmark, France, Germany, Guam, Hong Kong, India, Israel, Italy, Ivory Coast, Japan, Kenya, Liberia, Netherlands, Solomon Islands, Sweden, United States, Yugoslavia and Western Samoa, where a missionary home is being built.

In Brooklyn the 12-story renovated section of the new office building at 25 Columbia Heights, which is 100 feet by 100 feet in size, was being readied for occupancy. All 12 floors will be fully occupied by various offices and departments of the Society. During the past months the steelwork has been completed for the nine-floor extension building being added to the renovated administration building above mentioned. This new construction will be completed sometime in 1981.

MISSIONARY TRAINING PROGRAM ENLARGED

Due to the increased need for trained Gilead missionaries in the field, the number of students at the Watchtower Bible School of Gilead has been doubled. The 67th class was the first of these larger classes. Fifty-one students graduated Sunday, September 16, 1979, and were sent to 23 different countries. The 68th class of 45 students graduated March 9, 1980. They were sent to 11 lands.

PIONEER SERVICE SCHOOLS BRING ENCOURAGEMENT

Thousands of our full-time pioneer Witnesses continued to be trained in the pioneer service schools that were conducted in many countries. This two-week course is full of Biblical information and practical preaching suggestions. The following comments from one of these schools are representative of the many letters of appreciation that have been received by the Teaching Committee.

“From the time the Pioneer Service School was first announced, pioneers the world over, including us ourselves, have eagerly anticipated the time when we could attend. Then, last year, we were overjoyed at learning our patience was to be rewarded this summer. These past two weeks have been what we were waiting for. And it was well worth the wait.

“We all feel a closer bond with our loving God Jehovah, the One who made this school possible for us. Our affection for him, and his faithful slave, has grown immeasurably. An additional, unexpected pleasure that has come with this experience is the unifying effect the school has had on us as a body of pioneers. We’ve been drawn together as a family within a family, sharing each other’s problems, as well as our hopes, our joys, and our love.

“Expressions like ‘this has been the best two weeks of my life’ have been heard, and certainly help to express how we all feel about the marvelous provision from Jehovah we’ve just enjoyed. ‘Food at the proper time’ seems like such an understatement at this point. Two weeks of spiritual paradise describes it better.

“Our firm resolve to pioneer as long as the privilege is available has been very strongly reinforced in each one of us by the fine information, and the very stimulating way in which it was presented. We would also like to acknowledge the two very loving and skillful brothers who served us as instructors these two weeks. Their wealth of information and personal experience truly helped bring the information alive at a very personal level.”

SUCCESS OF THE 1980 “DIVINE LOVE” DISTRICT CONVENTIONS

While the spiritual festivals for 1980 have not been reported on by all the branches, the 102 “Divine Love” District Conventions for the continental United States showed an all-time peak attendance of 1,024,126. Those baptized at these conventions came to 9,617. The conventioners appreciated the directness and timeliness of all the counsel presented. Bible dramas emphasized loyalty and faithfulness to Jehovah and his organization. The Resolution enthusiastically adopted on Friday demonstrated that all were determined to sound the divine warning concerning the impending day of Jehovah’s vengeance. Appropriately the public talk on Sunday “Why Will a Loving God Exact Vengeance?” outlined the Scriptural reasons for such divine action. The following excerpt from one convention chairman’s report in the United States illustrates the appreciation shown for the features of the convention program.

“The ‘Divine Love’ Convention program was outstanding. It included matters from child raising, marriage, loyalty, apostasy and orderliness to sounding out the divine warning of the nearness of Jehovah’s ‘Day of Vengeance.’ A point repeated over the four days was: ‘We cannot be true Christians if we do not have love among ourselves.’ What a manifestation of Jehovah’s spirit to select that ‘Divine Love’ theme at this time!”

LITERATURE PUBLISHING STILL EFFECTIVE IN EVANGELIZING

The annual reports received from all the branches still bear out that publishing of literature is effective in evangelizing. Following is part of the 1980 report from Colombia, South America.

“In Bogotá a brother was in a store on business waiting to talk to the owner. He took advantage of the time to read part of the ‘Watchtower’ magazine he had brought along. The woman the store owner was talking to noticed the magazine the brother was reading and remarked that she too read ‘The Watchtower’ and liked it very much. A neighbor boy always brought her the magazines. She then proceeded to tell him how she helped distribute the [Society’s] book ‘Your Youth.’ Every time she goes for her doctor’s appointment she takes the book along and reads it out loud to other patients in the waiting room. Quite a number of persons have expressed interest in having a copy of the book; so she has obtained the books from a nephew, who is one of Jehovah’s Witnesses, and takes the books to the people in their own homes. On one occasion she delivered eight books. Her conversation with the brother resulted in arrangements for a home Bible study. Although her husband is very much opposed she is making every effort to apply with love the things she is learning.”

1980 WORLDWIDE FIELD REPORT

The 1980 worldwide field service report is indeed an encouraging one! Unquestionably Jehovah’s spirit continues with his people in all parts of the earth. In 205 countries Jehovah’s people are happy to be sharing the hope of the good news which is being preached in all creation that is under heaven.​—Col. 1:23.

Our brothers put forth a tremendous effort to carry out their divine commission to preach and teach wherever possible. (Matt. 28:19, 20) During the year the world empire of false religion, Babylon the Great, gave further evidence of her rapid decline and her spiritually impoverished condition. The seas of mankind grew more turbulent. (Isa. 57:20, 21) Worldwide immorality, infidelity, ungodliness and materialism, together with inflation and economic insecurity, continued unabated. Yet, through it all, Jehovah’s people were sustained by timely spiritual food, such as that in The Watchtower. They were strengthened to accomplish a marvelous work.

Note the chart (pages 24-31) that presents the 1980 field activities reported from 205 lands.

ACTIVITY IN THE WORLD FIELD

Jesus Christ said of himself: “The sower of the fine seed is the Son of man; the field is the world.” (Matt. 13:37, 38) The chart indicates how extensively the seeds of Bible truth were sown, and how great the harvest. The report reflects the healthy spirit of activity on the part of Jehovah’s Witnesses in the various lands. There was a 6-percent increase in the total hours that were spent preaching the “good news,” largely in sacred service from house to house. The total hours came to 339,427,608.

FIVE ALL-TIME-HIGH FIGURES

The 1980 report shows a definite upswing in the worldwide preaching work. This is manifested by five all-time-high figures in the report.

(1) We rejoice that the peak of publishers in the field is the highest ever, coming to 2,272,278, a 4-percent increase over last year’s peak. This is most encouraging, considering the number who were disfellowshiped and some who fell away due to succumbing to persecution, worldliness, materialism or apostasy. (Matt. 13:21, 22; 1 Tim. 4:1) At the same time, 113,779 persons were brought to the point of dedication and baptism, showing that good seed took root in fine soil.

(2) The second all-time-high figure is for the monthly average of publishers, 2,175,403, a 3.7-percent increase over last year. This clearly indicates that more of our brothers see the importance of sharing in sacred service every month. Also, it indicates that they see the importance of turning in reports of field service monthly. It also shows increased appreciation for the opportunities of placing their gifts of service upon Jehovah’s altar each month. As a result, they receive rich blessings from Jehovah.​—Heb. 13:15; Matt. 5:23, 24; Prov. 10:22.

(3) On March 31, 1980, after sundown, the beginning of the Biblical day of Nisan 14, we had the greatest number ever attending the Memorial of Christ’s death, namely, 5,726,656. This was an 8-percent increase over the previous year’s record attendance. Thus 402,890 more were present. This is evidence that the brothers gave support to the arrangement to help hundreds of thousands of new ones to be present for this most important Christian event of the year. We cannot help but be impressed with the potential that exists for an increase in active proclaimers of the good news. Now we look forward to the Memorial of April 19, 1981.

(4) We rejoice also over the highest number of full-time workers ever in the field! The record monthly average comes to 137,861 pioneers in the various branches of full-time service such as regular and special pioneers, missionaries and traveling overseers. This is an 8-percent increase. All of these manifested the pioneer spirit by forging ahead in their preaching work, overcoming many obstacles and trials. Many of this number have enjoyed the training provided for them in the pioneer service schools. It is good to see that many young ones who completed their secular schooling, as well as new ones, joined the happy ranks of these forefront fighters for the faith. (1 Tim. 6:12) This does not include the large army of scores of thousands of auxiliary pioneers. All of these are to be commended for their works of love in helping thousands of Jehovah’s sheep to be gathered into the one flock. (John 10:16) Their enlarged gift of sacred service upon God’s altar is appreciated. It contributed greatly toward making up this fine world report.

(5) Congregations of Jehovah’s people may be likened to “cities,” as mentioned in the Bible. “My cities will yet overflow with goodness,” prophesied Zechariah, at chapter 1, verse 17. At Isaiah 61:4 it is foretold of our day that previously “devastated cities” will be rebuilt and made new. So among Jehovah’s Witnesses the number of Christian congregations being formed continues to grow, with blessing and success. During 1980, 581 new congregations were organized, bringing the total number to 43,181 congregations functioning, a new all-time record. This is still further evidence of spiritual prosperity. With the growth in the number of publishers, there must of necessity be a growth in the number of congregations. Congregations have appreciated the loving visits of circuit and district overseers and their wives. All were stimulated by the circuit assemblies of this past year.

OTHER FEATURES OF THE REPORT

A definite upturn is observed in the number of return visits made worldwide upon interested ones. The 142,104,285 return visits represents a 6-percent increase over last year’s report. Also as part of our discipling work there was a 9-percent increase in the number of Bible studies held monthly, namely, 1,371,584, which is the largest number of Bible studies conducted in the past five years. This gives a potential for many more new ones joining us in the field during the 1981 service year.

Literature, our Bible study aids, actually distributed in the worldwide field during 1980 comes to the following:

Bound Books and Bibles 22,837,471

Booklets 16,465,248

Magazines 218,827,546

258,130,265

Placements of our Bible literature surpassed 1979. There was an increase in our magazine placements of 2,726,790 copies. The magazine figures above do not include the millions of Watchtower and Awake! magazines sent out to subscribers.

As to the worldwide production of the Society’s magazines during 1980, there was a 2-percent increase. Following is the production report:

Languages 1980 1979

“Watchtower” printed 106 214,120,276 210,847,243

“Awake!” printed 34 187,470,504 184,052,203

401,590,780 394,899,446

SEVEN-YEAR PICTURE OF PROGRESS

Over the past seven years, from 1974 to 1980 inclusive, Jehovah’s Witnesses have made steady progress. Their growth is healthy. Only as to Memorial partakers has there been a gradual decline, which is in accord with Scriptural expectations. Thus there is no doubt that Jehovah has been guiding his people unfailingly through Christ Jesus their leader. Observe the following graphic picture of the worldwide progress of Jehovah’s work on earth in these last days.

[Footnotes]

[Chart on pages 24-31]

1980 SERVICE YEAR REPORT OF JEHOVAH’S WITNESSES WORLD WIDE

(See publication)

[Chart on page 32]

(For fully formatted text, see publication)

WORLDWIDE PROGRESS

1974 75 76 77 78 79 80

4,550,457 Memorial Attendance 5,726,656b

10,723 Declining Memorial Partakers 9,564

1,880,713 Average Monthly Publishers 2,175,403c

1,351,404 Average Bible Studies 1,371,584

127,135 Average Full-Time Pioneers 137,861d

34,576 Number of Congregations 43,181e

[Footnotes]

Acts of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Modern Times

Just as Jesus foretold, the good news of the Kingdom is being preached on a marvelous scale worldwide. (Matt. 24:14) What has particularly initiated this in many countries is the zealous activity of missionaries from Gilead School. In the next 223 pages, you will read how these missionaries, along with other courageous men and women, pioneered the Kingdom preaching in modern times in the following four countries.

EL SALVADOR: In 1945 a married couple from Gilead School became the first Kingdom proclaimers here. Now there are over 7,000. Read how the Kingdom work developed and grew, and how it continues to prosper during the dreadful civil strife.

IVORY COAST: In 1949 two Gilead missionaries did the first recorded Kingdom service in the country. Learn how, despite a ban on the preaching work for a time and other difficulties, the good news has been carried to the remote regions of the country.

UPPER VOLTA: The first Kingdom publishers came here in 1963, but they were expelled the following year. Read how eventually Gilead missionaries spearheaded the preaching work, resulting in fine growth.

NEW ZEALAND: The Kingdom work had its beginning here over 75 years ago. The zealous activity of the early pioneers, the activity under ban during World War II and the postwar growth of the Kingdom work make for exciting reading.

We believe that these stirring reports of Christian faith in modern times will strengthen and encourage you to carry on in your service to God.

El Salvador

It was February 24, 1945. The place: the Mexico City airport. The missionary tugged anxiously on the arms of his seat as the small propeller plane taxied down the runway. Seated across the aisle was the Watch Tower Society’s president, Nathan H. Knorr and vice-president Frederick W. Franz. Knorr suggested to the missionary that if he pulled a little harder the plane would soon be off the ground. Later, when the plane was airborne, he told him he did not have to pull any longer as his efforts had been rewarded.

The missionary was Roscoe A. Stone. Accompanied by his wife, Hilda, he was headed for a foreign assignment in the small, oblong-shaped Central American country of El Salvador. The couple were to begin an organized effort to declare the Kingdom good news to the then some 1,500,000 inhabitants of those 8,000 square miles (20,700 km²) of sunbathed tropical earth.

The Stones accompanied Brothers Knorr and Franz only as far as Guatemala. Four days later the missionary couple caught a plane that took them the rest of the way to El Salvador. Here they discovered a country of jewellike volcanic lakes, extinct and active volcanoes, coffee plantations, miles of unspoiled Pacific beaches, and open-air markets offering what seemed to them to be exotic fruits such as the mango, papaya, mamey, and medlar fruit.

GETTING SETTLED

The Watch Tower Society’s branch overseer in Mexico had asked two interested persons in the capital, San Salvador, to meet the Stones at the airport. They were told to hold up the Spanish edition of The Watchtower so that they would be recognized. However, the Stones arrived three days prior to the expected arrival date, which meant no one was at the airport to meet them. They found El Salvador to be in a state of siege, with no freedom of press. President Osmín Aguirre had been put in power by force, and there had been strikes in many departments of the government.

Since the San Salvador airport was about six miles (10 km) outside of the capital, the Stones got a taxi. Just as the driver stopped for inspection at the edge of the city, there was a loud explosion. Policemen came running toward their cab with rifles leveled at the Stones’ heads. The driver excitedly told the police not to be alarmed as they must have had a blowout of a tire.

After passing this crisis, the cab wove around oxcarts, children, and street vendors to the center of town. Machine guns were on all streets near the National Palace. As the Stones presented their credentials to an immigration officer, they heard him grumble about Protestant missionaries coming down to their Catholic country. Nevertheless, they were granted permission to remain for six months.

The Stones rented a small two-room house with a walled-in patio. There were no cooking facilities except a small charcoal stove. Water and electricity were rationed, being available only at certain hours. The vultures, which were numerous in the city, aided in garbage disposal. They roosted on the walls around the patio, watching; to say the least, their presence was a bit depressing.

RELIGIOUS HISTORY

When the Stones arrived in El Salvador they were unaware of some of the religious history of their new country. At the time practically all inhabitants were nominal Catholics. But Catholics in El Salvador had forms of worship different from those of Catholics in North America. Why? Because Salvadorans practiced rituals of their Indian forefathers in combination with the religious practices of the Roman Catholic Church. As one historian described the religious situation in Middle America:

“Especially in Indian towns the ceremonies of the Church appeared inseparable from the old pagan forms of idol worship. It may be safely said that in many communities in the [Spanish] colonies, the Roman Catholic religion had broken down and had become devoid of much of its European significance by grafting upon it many non-Christian practices.”​—“Outline History of Latin America,” Wilgus and d’Eca.

Interestingly, historian Santiago Barbarena, in his Ancient History of the Conquest of El Salvador, declared that the Indians already had a high priest or pope called Papahuaquín when the Spaniards arrived in America. The conquistadores found it difficult to account for this and many other similarities to their own religion. Later chroniclers purposely avoided use of this term in order not to confuse the Indian pope with the Roman pontiff.

It soon became obvious to the Stones that the people generally knew little or nothing about the Bible. Most of them, in fact, had never seen a Bible, much less read one. Never having been taught, few knew anything about God’s requirements for Christians. Thus, according to official reports, more than 50 percent of all births in El Salvador were listed as illegitimate.

The Catholic priests themselves set an example in immorality. As a ruler of El Salvador, Rubén Rosales, later said: “I know that a priest in Cojutepeque, where I used to live, had a woman. It was public knowledge. He even had sons by her. ‘So why should we be any different from the priests?’ is the way I excused my conduct.” Truly, this was a country that needed to hear the Kingdom message!

STARTING THE KINGDOM PREACHING

Three days after the Stones arrived, which was when they were supposed to have landed, Roscoe and his wife Hilda went to the airport. There they found a man and a woman, side by side, the man holding aloft a copy of the Adventist magazine El Centinela and the woman a Watchtower. The Stones later started studying the Bible with them. The man failed to make any progress, but in a few weeks the woman began to accompany Hilda in the field service. After two days, however, she asked Sister Stone for her pay. When she learned how Jehovah rewards his people for serving him, she ceased her study and service and was never seen again.

The Stones were the first Witnesses to live in El Salvador, although four or five others earlier had done some distributing of the Society’s literature. On March 28, just one month after arriving, the Stones met with two persons to celebrate the Memorial. Then, on April 9, 1945, when Brothers Knorr and Franz passed through El Salvador on their return from South America, about 10 Salvadorans were at the airport to meet them. By the end of 1945, six more missionaries had arrived​—Marion and Cordelia Barger, Gladys Wilson, Marguerite Stover, Ruth Price and Dorothy Thompson.

EARLY BAPTIZED ONES

With the Gilead graduates actively carrying Jehovah’s message to the people, many started coming to the meetings. Some of the early Gilead graduates have a picture of an elderly man being baptized. His name was Antonio Molina Choto. Brother Stone studied with Antonio, who was then 69 years old. In that same year, 1945, he became the first person to symbolize his dedication and be baptized in El Salvador.

Also among the first Salvadorans to become Witnesses were Herminio Ramírez and his wife. The Stones studied with them about every third day, and after about 15 days Brother Stone initiated Herminio in the field service. They went as constant companions from one end of the city to the other end, distributing Bible literature and visiting interested persons. Brother Ramírez, now an elder, still remembers with great fondness those days of about 35 years ago.

Marguerite Stover found Joaquin Sarmiento teaching shoemaking in a boys’ correctional school. He almost immediately began attending meetings. At his first one he heard arrangements being made for field service for the following Sunday. He appeared, and was ready to go along. After that Joaquin and Brother Stone were frequent companions in the service.

BRANCH ESTABLISHED

On April 30, 1946, Raymond and Della Maples, Winona Firth and Evelyn Hill arrived to begin their foreign service in El Salvador. So, a little more than a year after the Stones arrived, there were now 10 Gilead graduates working in El Salvador, the Bargers having left because of health reasons. This group of missionaries eagerly awaited the visit of Brothers Knorr and Franz, during which a branch was established in El Salvador in May 1946, with Brother Roscoe Stone serving as the first branch servant.

To climax the visit, 66 persons gathered in the patio of the missionary home to listen to Brother Knorr deliver the talk “Be Glad, Ye Nations.” Four persons were baptized. So May 1946 saw 24 people singing Jehovah’s praise​—14 “company” publishers and 10 missionaries.

MISSIONARY WORK IN SANTA ANA

In June 1946 Leo Mahan and his wife, Esther, along with Mildred Olson and Evelyn Trabert, arrived. They were assigned to El Salvador’s second largest city, Santa Ana. It is located in the heart of the coffee belt in the western part of the country. This city became the site of the first expansion of the missionary activity outside of San Salvador. A suitable house was located the first day for a missionary home.

Illiteracy was prevalent. So, often the missionaries, in their broken Spanish, would have to read the “testimony card” with its printed witness. Frequently this resulted only in a look of confusion on the face of the householder. Placing literature was quite easy, but unfamiliarity with the language made the conducting of Bible studies difficult. This problem was alleviated a little when Sisters Wilson and Stover were sent to Santa Ana to help the new missionaries with the language. With persistence in the preaching work, they began to find people with a thirst for Bible truth.

One of these persons was Leonor Escobar. A Bible study was started with her, and after a period of about four months she began going in the field service. A few years ago, at the age of 91, she was still conducting four Bible studies weekly and spending 30 hours monthly in the preaching work. Now, as her age nears the century mark, she remains a faithful worshiper of Jehovah. She feels that being active in the service has helped her to enjoy better health and to feel even stronger than before she learned the truth.

Rosa Ascencio, a Baptist, heard that the missionaries were selling a book in Santa Ana about the Bible and expressed interest in buying one. A short time later one of her friends brought Mildred Olson to her home with the book “The Truth Shall Make You Free.” The next week Mildred began to study with her. After just four studies she was invited to accompany Mildred in the field service. Her progress was rapid and she was baptized on June 6, 1947. The following year Rosa became the first regular pioneer in Santa Ana.

By the second month of the preaching activity in Santa Ana new ones began attending meetings with the missionaries. Soon a congregation was formed. In January 1947 Evelyn Hill and her partner Winona Firth were sent from San Salvador to help out in Santa Ana. At the same time, three graduates of Gilead’s sixth class, Walter and Ione Wissman and Mary Taciak, took their place in San Salvador.

NEW MISSIONARY HOME

Early in 1947 a new home at North Twelfth Avenue at the corner of Centenary Park was obtained for the branch office and missionary home in San Salvador. It had five bedrooms, with the rooms forming three sides around a patio, and a 10-foot (3-m) wall on the other side. In the patio were mango, lemon, bitter orange and fig trees, as well as a few palms. It was indeed very exotic and exciting to be able to pick your own fruit.

Congregational meetings were held in the corridor outside some of the bedrooms. It was not unusual for some who arrived early for the meetings to part the curtains used to cover the bedroom windows and happily chat with a missionary as she finished her makeup and other personal preparations. It was hard to get used to this lack of privacy, but little by little it became part of the process of adjusting.

The conveniences of the home included a large homemade wood stove with sides of baked clay. Loads of green wood were bought and stored until dry enough to burn. Excitement was not lacking as occasionally large spiders and other tropical insect life brought in with the wood would sneak their way into the bedrooms to seek refuge in a shoe or another article of clothing. Though this was common, injuries were rare and not of serious consequence.

Cooking and heating water on this makeshift stove was a delicately balanced matter. When it was a missionary’s day to cook, she would rise at about five o’clock in the morning, get the fire started, and have hot water as well as breakfast ready by seven o’clock. The bathing facilities consisted of a large cement storage tank filled with water. The water would be scooped out with a gourd dipper and thrown over the body.

On the other hand, heartwarming experiences were the rule of the day. These kept the first missionaries joyful of heart, overshadowing less important inconveniences. Many of the seeds of truth that were then sown produced fellow publishers of the good news who are still serving Jehovah faithfully after these many years.

OPPOSITION IN SANTA ANA

Evelyn Hill and Winona Firth were assigned to Santa Ana just in time to share in the preparatory work for the first circuit assembly there March 21-23, 1947. A crowd of 475 turned out to hear the public discourse “Blessed Are the Peacemakers.” On this occasion Catholic priests became aware of our presence and work.

On Sunday, March 30, the priests organized a demonstration against us. They had handbills distributed over the city. One of these said:

“Oh! friends in Santa Ana, let us pray to Saint Michael that he defend us against the treacherous traps of the Devil incarnate in his witnesses in our city of Santa Ana. To El Salvador came the circumspect ‘Atalayas’ [Watchtowers] to populate our land looking for proselytes, and this is very logical, that Uncle Sam and the Devil go hand in hand.”

On this Sunday a small group was gathered at the missionary home for the weekly Watchtower study. Suddenly some boys came running past, throwing large stones through the open door. They just missed some of the brothers. Then came the procession led by priests. Many carried torches, others their revered images. Quickly the door of the missionary home was closed, and for two hours it was pelted with stones. Above the machine-gun-like rat-a-tat of the stones was heard the chanting, “Long live the Virgin!” and, “May Jehovah die!” About 11 p.m. the brothers could safely leave for their homes.

This incident served to publicize the preaching work and make the people curious to know the Witnesses better. The publishers were announced wherever they went, since the priests instructed the people to shout “Atalaya” whenever they saw them. Also, pressure was put on the children of those associating with the Witnesses to attend church, even though these children went to public schools.

The persistence of the Witnesses made a profound impression on the people of Santa Ana. They had expected them to move on as soon as they had sold all their literature. What a surprise to find them calling back where interest was manifested in order to show the people how to use the publications they had! Among those who accepted the truth were three blind men who became very active publishers.

Sunday, April 6, was the Memorial, and 104 gathered together for its celebration. By the end of the 1947 service year there were 48 Kingdom publishers in Santa Ana, a fine increase in the little more than a year since the arrival of the missionaries in June 1946.

THE WORK MOVES AHEAD

In August of 1947 Roscoe Stone was asked to go to San Miguel to open up the preaching work there. Brother Mahan was transferred from Santa Ana to San Salvador to become the branch servant. Soon afterward the Stones returned to the United States, so the extension of the work to San Miguel had to wait for a future date.

Yet the preaching work continued to move ahead. Joaquin Sarmiento, for example, was taking the initiative in giving public talks, even before he was baptized. He spent the night before his first talk in a hospital awaiting the birth of his son, Joaquin, Jr. At 6 a.m. his little son was born, and Joaquin went home, ate breakfast, and then went out into the field service, making return visits and inviting people to his talk that afternoon. Thus at 4 p.m., 40 people were in attendance to hear him speak on the theme “World Peace​—By Whom?” That little son who entered the world back in 1947 is now an elder and a fine public speaker serving in one of the San Salvador congregations.

SOME MISSIONARIES LEAVE, OTHERS COME

Sickness was playing havoc with the missionaries, causing many of them to leave El Salvador. By late in 1948 the ranks of the missionaries had been reduced to five from the 17 that were serving there the year before. To help fill the gap, Charles Beedle, a Gilead graduate serving in Guatemala, was sent to El Salvador as branch servant.

Brother Beedle had a very busy schedule. He conducted the service meeting in San Salvador on Thursday, and made the trip to Santa Ana on Friday to conduct the service meeting there. For a time he followed this schedule every week. So, besides being the branch servant, Brother Beedle was acting as congregation servant for both the San Salvador and Santa Ana congregations, and as home servant for the San Salvador missionary home.

In November 1948 Charlotte Bowin and Julia Clogston arrived, and were assigned to the San Jacinto area of San Salvador. These missionaries were very much appreciated since they had worked in Spanish-speaking territories in Texas and Mexico City. They came just in time to witness a revolution, which occurred in the month of December. One minute the stores were open and business was going on as usual, and the next minute all business had stopped and it seemed everyone was hustling someplace. A coup replaced President Castañeda Castro’s regime.

USE OF RADIO

Kingdom preaching by means of radio was opened up in January 1949. A civil engineer put his radio station YSLL at the disposal of the Witnesses for an hour every Sunday evening. Brother Beedle inaugurated the “Watchtower Hour” by delivering the discourse “The Meek Shall Inherit the Earth.” Then he introduced to the radio audience the “López Family.”

During the weeks that followed the public could tune in to the imaginary López family and hear the Kingdom message discussed through the home Bible study instruction that was given. Such publications as “The Truth Shall Make You Free,” “Let God Be True,” “This Means Everlasting Life,” as well as articles in The Watchtower, were used in the Bible discussions. In these broadcasts the López family began going to the local meetings at the Kingdom Hall. Finally they accepted the truth, got baptized, and even started sharing in the Kingdom preaching. Much comment was made on the life of the López family by the radio audience.

BRANCH MOVED

In March 1949 new missionary home and branch facilities were obtained. Sisters Thompson, Wilson, Taciak, Stover, Price, Bowin, and Clogston, along with Brother Beedle, moved into this modern reinforced-concrete five-bedroom house on the corner of Campos Street and Republic of Cuba Avenue. The meetings were held in a central covered patio. One of the neighbors of the new missionary home was Maria Luisa Reyes, who accepted a Bible study from one of the missionaries and later came into the truth.

That same month of March a circuit assembly was held in San Salvador. The sessions for the first two days were held in the patio of the old missionary home by Centenary Park. But for Sunday a beautiful municipal school building was used, and 210 persons, including 42 who had made the trip from Santa Ana, came to hear the public talk. The following month 157 gathered to celebrate the Memorial in San Salvador.

PROGRESS IN SANTA ANA

In July 1949 the brothers in Santa Ana once again became the target of attack by the Catholic Hierarchy. The church published some very pointed articles directed against our work. But instead of facts, lies were offered, and the people of Santa Ana had a unique opportunity of realizing that one month later. One of the articles said that only three poor, blind men had become Jehovah’s Witnesses. The article ended with this confused admonition for the Catholic laity, “Remember that it is better to never learn English than to go to hell for having left the Church.”

A month later, in August, a second circuit assembly was held in Santa Ana. But in addition to the three blind men, there were many others who shared in distributing handbills and carrying placards advertising the public talk “The Only Light.” Some 50 visitors came from San Salvador for the assembly. All together a total of 188 turned out to hear the Sunday public talk at the local Kingdom Hall. The neighbors nearby thought it certainly strange that three blind men could have so much company!

Later in 1949 four more missionaries, Tillman and Josephine Humphrey along with Vivian Uhl and her sister Gloria Bauert, came to El Salvador from the 10th class of Gilead. They were temporarily sent to work in Santa Ana.

WORK OPENED UP IN THE EAST

Late in 1949 it was decided to open up the preaching work in San Miguel. The four new missionaries were sent there, and a new missionary home was established.

San Miguel is the third largest city in the republic. It is 30 miles (50 km) from the Pacific Ocean, and 1,500 feet (460 m) lower in altitude than the capital, with very few trees for shade. The heat is very oppressive for most of the year. During the six-month dry season, the winds bring generous portions of dust and dirt into the homes. However, these missionaries were of strong spirit and persevered in spite of these conditions.

The town has a very religious background. During “Holy Week” the cobblestone streets would be filled with long processions of people carrying torches and chanting as they followed their images. First would come an image of Mary and Joseph, then of Jesus carrying a large wooden cross, and later an image of Jesus in an elaborately carved wood and glass coffin, showing the bloodstained nail holes in his hands and feet.

The missionaries were among the first Anglo-Saxons to live in San Miguel. When a brother would go there to give a public lecture, their missionary home patio would be packed out. Soon 30 or 40 were coming to the meetings. On Sunday, May 6, 1951, Brother Humphrey was dismissing the meeting with prayer when a strong quake shook their adobe home. When he finished his prayer and raised his eyes, he found that the missionaries were all alone in the patio. The rest had followed the custom of fleeing to the street.

The following day it was learned that the towns of Jucuapa, Chinameca, Berlín and Santiago de María had suffered severe damage. In Jucuapa the people had run to the church to pray. Many were found within the thick adobe and earthen walls of the church, smothered from the dust when the walls fell in. A tremendous campaign of first aid was begun. The refugees were housed in school buildings in San Miguel and some were evacuated to San Salvador.

TRUTH SPREADS IN HOSPITAL

A man who was studying with a Witness had an accident and ended up in the Rosales Hospital in San Salvador. He was soon talking the truth to everyone he met. It was not long before he heard rumors of someone else who was preaching the same message in the tuberculosis ward. He told the missionary, Gladys Wilson, of this. Imagine her surprise when she found Luis Salinas and five other interested people. They had been poring over the Society’s publications and were overjoyed to see Jehovah’s Witnesses.

Gladys started a study right there in the tuberculosis ward with about 50 persons attending! The original six made splendid progress and witnessed to the other 200 patients in the ward. Some of these patients died. But others were discharged and continued their Christian growth elsewhere.

1950 INTERNATIONAL ASSEMBLY

The missionaries were happy to hear that Brother Knorr had given permission to all the missionaries, except the four that had arrived late in 1949, to attend the international assembly in New York’s Yankee Stadium. The Salvadoran brothers were happy to take the responsibility of caring for all the meetings and Bible studies of the missionaries while they were away. And they did a fine job. For months afterward the brothers would preface an experience with, “When the missionaries were gone and I was taking care of their studies or their servant duties . . .” They would then go on to tell of how Jehovah had blessed them in their efforts. The cooperation of all the local brothers at this time was certainly stimulating to the missionaries when they returned.

During the 1950 service year a new peak of 250 Kingdom publishers, including 18 missionaries, was reached. With the establishment of the congregation in San Miguel, there were four congregations of Jehovah’s people in El Salvador.

SUCCESSFUL CIRCUIT ASSEMBLIES

One of the goals for the new service year was to strengthen the San Miguel congregation in the east. What better way was there to accomplish this than to have an assembly there? So in November 1950 a circuit assembly was held in this hot city. Everyone was overjoyed to see 13 persons make public their dedication to do Jehovah’s will by water baptism.

To many the setting was an unusual one: Two missionaries wading out into the deep, rain-muddied water of the Rio Grande where fish slithered away silently, and above, flocks of wild parrots screamed as a quiet and orderly baptism was carried out. What a difference from the pomp and ceremony of church baptisms!

In April 1951 another circuit assembly was held, this time in the west. The location was the beautiful National Theater of Santa Ana. Over 200 Witnesses flocked to the town, and 1,300 packed out the theater to hear the public talk, “Surviving This World’s End.”

KINGDOM HALL AND NEW HOME

Increases also were being enjoyed in the capital, San Salvador. In fact, the brothers there needed larger facilities in which to meet. But most places adequate for the congregation cost from $120 to $160 (U.S.) a month, which was beyond the brothers’ means. However, in time, a large upstairs hall was rented downtown at the corner of Sixth Street and South First Avenue. As the congregation grew, walls were removed to make more space for all who were responding to the Kingdom message. The year 1951 proved to be one of significant increase for El Salvador, as a peak of 321 Kingdom publishers in seven congregations was reached.

At the same time as the move was made to the new Kingdom Hall, the missionary home and branch office were relocated to West 23rd Street and North First Avenue. This home had five comfortable bedrooms besides a spacious office, dining room, kitchen, pantry, and a small living room. There were also three bathrooms. Here the first modern convenience was introduced to the missionaries, a washer. It was purchased from a Bible study of one of the missionaries for only $10 (U.S.). All were pleased with the whiteness of the bed linen, and they were so happy to store away their little washboards.

An old wooden icebox was still being used. The missionary who was the cook for the day had the duty of getting up at 5 a.m. in order to catch the iceman for the daily purchase of 50 pounds of ice. But then the icebox, too, was retired. It was replaced by a refrigerator the missionaries were able to buy. So modern conveniences were penetrating the missionary home.

CATHEDRAL BURNS

On August 8, 1951, a fire broke out in the National Theater in San Salvador. The sky-high flames stretched across the street to embrace the old cathedral. Breathless thousands watched as the 80-year-old timbers in the attic began to smolder. Some would-be hero rushed to the roof and chopped a hole in it, which acted as a made-to-order draft that encouraged the fire. Soon it was flaming up much like a blast furnace.

Within 40 minutes the once highly revered colonial-style structure was converted to ashes. Many faithful were in tears. Some had risked their lives to save the image of Jesus, placing it on the National Palace steps in front of the holocaust. In harmony with Psalm 115, many Witnesses used the fact that this image was unable to leave the burning building under its own power to emphasize the impotence of such images.

The Catholic Church asked the government for money to build a new cathedral. One of the principal opposers of the Church’s request was a young engineer, Baltasar Perla. With his removal from the committee handling the matter, the Church came out the winner and one million colones ($400,000, U.S.) was finally contributed by the government to the Church. Additionally, the Church asked for cooperation on the part of the people to help finance the reconstruction, all workers in the country being asked to contribute a day’s wage. Now, nearly 30 years later, the cathedral is still incomplete, and the Church continues to seek financial support for its construction.

CORRECTING A PROBLEM

The 1952 service year began with a circuit assembly in San Salvador, with 640 attending the public talk at the Follies Theater. Numberwise, the organization was growing, but, at the same time, something was not right. What was it?

A special representative of the Society, Brother T. H. Siebenlist, visited El Salvador in January of 1952. After reviewing the situation, he was quick to spot the problem. Many couples were living together without being legally married, and they were being accepted as Kingdom publishers. This was grieving the holy spirit.

So Brother Siebenlist gave talks in San Salvador, Chalchuapa, and San Miguel each time stressing the need to put marriages on a legal basis. Commenting on the situation, the report from El Salvador in the 1953 Yearbook of Jehovah’s Witnesses acknowledges:

“We could see that we had been asleep at the switch! . . . We had been too fearful of losing numbers, to the hurt of the quality of our organization, but as of February 1, 1952, all persons not living right according to the Bible could no longer be counted as Jehovah’s witnesses until such time as they should straighten out their lives. Those who sincerely turned around and changed their course were not disfellowshiped but were helped with their problems. Sometimes we had to rack our brains because of the profound complexity of the situations. El Salvador’s report for February showed that we had dropped 100 publishers from our last peak, but we were determined to see the matter through. . . .

“March, April and May passed, and we all felt better. There was a good, clean feeling in the whole organization. All the old ‘hangers-on’ had cleared out. Our good publishers had straightened themselves out, and we could really feel Jehovah’s spirit and blessing on the work. We worked as hard as before, yes; but now we could see something for it; we could feel the results. . . .

“Sure our publishers were down in numbers, but total hours refused to drop, but even climbed. The publishers were marvelous; they dug in and made more back-calls and conducted more studies than ever before in the history of the republic. We did not need those who had left at all; we only thought we did. We had not realized that what was important was dedication to Jehovah and not to a work.”

LEGALIZING MARRIAGES

Rosa Ascencio, the first Salvadoran pioneer in Santa Ana, was affected by the new decision. She was living in a consensual relationship with a musician in the National Military Orchestra, Virgilio Montero, who also was a baptized Witness. What would they do?

Rosa explained: “We knew we were doing wrong, but we were just waiting for someone to tell us.”

So they discontinued their relationship immediately, and set about putting their lives in Scriptural order. It was a long four-year process until Virgilio could get a divorce from a former mate, and then obtain the necessary papers to marry Rosa. Finally, they were legally wed and symbolized their dedication to Jehovah by a second water baptism. Virgilio afterward enjoyed Jehovah’s blessing as overseer in a congregation in San Salvador, and for a time served as circuit servant. They were both very loved and appreciated by their brothers in El Salvador up until their death.

This matter of straightening out lives for Christian service was easier said than done in most cases. Yet many took whatever steps that were necessary to satisfy this Scriptural requirement. Thus the marriage campaign gained impetus, and the officials at City Hall were impressed as missionaries brought couple after couple, along with their children, to legalize their marriage.

The mayor of San Salvador once told Mary Taciak: “You teach them, and you just bring them to me and I will marry them.” This is exactly what the missionaries did. One little boy, on hearing his father speak of marriage, said: “But you will marry my mother, won’t you?”

One day when working from door to door Mary Taciak met a young mother in Colonia La Rábida who agreed to a Bible study. In time, both the woman and her companion, Ramon Argueta, became zealous in their studies and came to the meetings regularly. When Mary asked them if they were married, Ramon said: “No, we are just like Adam and Eve, just living together without being married.”

However, Mary explained that Adam and Eve were married by Jehovah. On learning this, they wanted to legalize their marriage too. Then the process began of collecting birth certificates for them and their four children. They could not find the certificate for Ramon so they had to visit a forensic doctor for him to give an official estimate of his age. When the doctor saw Mary, he asked her what these people were to her. “They are my brothers,” Mary said. He just shook his head: “You really do have a brotherhood in your religion.”

The 1953 Yearbook commented on these efforts to help people legalize their marriages: “Our reputation for high moral standards got around. It was beginning to attract people instead of repelling them. Responsible persons in the world were taking notice and applauding us.”

USE OF BIBLE DOOR TO DOOR

Also, during his visit Brother Siebenlist demonstrated how to read a few scriptures directly from the Bible at the doors, instead of handing the householder a plastic-covered testimony card. The missionaries first put this into practice when he visited San Miguel. There were many expressions of satisfaction, such as: “I feel like I have really taught the people something even if they do not take any literature.” In a short time all the publishers in El Salvador were being taught to use this method in their service.

CIRCUIT ASSEMBLIES HAPPY OCCASIONS

When the organization was small, the brothers really looked forward to the three-day circuit assemblies. Especially for the missionaries they were times of comradeship. This was true in May 1952 during the assembly in San Miguel.

After the day’s sessions the 22 missionaries crowded together into the San Miguel missionary home where they slept in cots and hammocks wherever they could find space. The doors were opened onto the patio for ventilation. Before going to sleep, the missionaries, exhilarated by the day’s activities, shared field service experiences, what they enjoyed from the program, what had happened in the kitchen, and so forth. Many a good joke would bring hearty laughter until some of the weary ones would plead for silence. Then, after an assembly was over, the entire group of missionaries would go to a movie together, or go somewhere to eat. There was a real family feeling among them.

On the final day of the San Miguel assembly it was a thrill to see 800 people gathered together in the National Theater to hear the public talk “What Religion Will Survive the World Crisis?” Another highlight of the assembly was the baptism. One of the 41 persons baptized was Ramon Argueta, who had gotten his marriage legalized shortly before. Ramon still remembers puffing away on a cigarette on his way to the baptism. Another candidate, also smoking, said to him: “This is our last cigarette.” Never did Ramon smoke again.

A year later, Ramon’s wife Julia was also baptized. Two of their children later spent years in the full-time service. Their son Victor Warren, after sharing in the special pioneer and circuit work, became the first Salvadoran brother to serve at the branch.

The next circuit assembly was scheduled for Santa Ana in November 1952. But the Salvadoran government announced a state of siege and all civil rights were suspended for 60 days. The Communists reportedly had laid plans to take control of the government. The manager of the National Theater was being held by the police, which meant that the brothers would not have the use of the theater.

However, the brothers did not give up. They got busy looking for another location for the assembly. Three proposed sites were canceled in succession due to fear on the part of the hall owners. Then, just one week before the assembly, the government lifted the ban and all civil rights were restored. Thus on Sunday 700 persons came to the theater to hear the public talk. Then, later that day, 19 symbolized by water baptism their dedication to serve Jehovah God.

NEW ONES CONTINUE TO COME IN

Among those responding to the truth about this time was Maura Flores. She was impressed by the unity demonstrated by the Witnesses, something she had not seen in her Adventist religion. Along with her nine-year-old son, she began to attend the meetings regularly. Later her son, Mario, spent many years in the special pioneer service, and later went to Gilead. Afterward he served for years in the circuit work in El Salvador. Now he and his wife are in a missionary home in San Miguel.

Then there was Federico Del Cid, who came from the village of Tejutepeque to San Salvador to find work. He met Ernesto Portillo and, in the course of discussing the rebuilding of the cathedral, Federico expressed sorrow that Ernesto had left the Church. Ernesto gave him a copy of the Watchtower magazine.

The following Sunday the two met again. Impressed with what he had read, Federico asked Ernesto for a home Bible study. When Federico went back to his family in Tejutepeque, he was able to interest them all in studying the Bible. Soon Federico and five other family members were baptized. For these many years he has enjoyed the love and respect of the brothers, and he now serves as an elder.

In the early 1950’s Angel Montalvo, a musician, showed interest when a special pioneer witnessed to him. His interest was so great that he sold his guitar, which was his sole means of making a livelihood, to buy a Bible. Making good progress, he was baptized in 1953. Angel spent a number of years as a special pioneer, and is now serving as an elder in the Soyapango Oriente congregation.

MISSIONARY CHANGES

Due to sickness and for other reasons, seven missionaries left the country in just a short time in 1953. They carried with them fond memories and lasting impressions. Marguerite Stover, who had come nearly eight years before in 1945, found especially hard to forget the funeral processions on the way to the cemetery. The mourners would walk behind those carrying the casket on their shoulders.

All too often it was a small white casket that mourners would be following. One day Marguerite and Mary Taciak went out and bought such a casket for the baby of a friend. They helped put the baby in it, and later helped carry it to the cemetery. Such became common experiences to the missionaries.

In March 1953 Jane Campbell became a welcomed missionary replacement, especially to one brother. She had come over from Guatemala to marry the branch servant, Charles Beedle. Jane was assigned to work with the San Jacinto congregation.

Soon the missionaries were planning once again to attend an international assembly in New York, and the Salvadoran brothers again had the opportunity to care for the organizational activities during their absence. One of the missionaries in San Miguel, Ruth Price, noted: “I was without funds to attend the assembly. Then one day I received a letter from the missionaries in San Salvador saying that if I could arrange to get a ride from Miami to New York, they would buy a plane ticket to Miami for me. Needless to say, I took them up on it and was grateful to Jehovah to have such warm friends among the missionaries.” So all the missionaries got to attend this second Yankee Stadium assembly in the summer of 1953.

UNASSIGNED TERRITORY WORK

In 1953 publishers in San Salvador began visiting the small town of San Juan Talpa, about 20 miles (32 km) from the capital. They traveled by bus, with the last lap of the journey being made on foot. These excursions were full of excitement.

Once, because of the terrible heat, the brothers decided to swim in a small river. The idea seemed excellent until fire ants began to devour the girls as they were changing to their swimming suits. What a relief to reach the protection of the water!

On this occasion freshwater shrimp were caught and, while the group was working in the service, a relative of one of the brothers in San Juan Talpa prepared the shrimp. The missionaries watched while the others consumed their shrimp whole. To the surprise of one of the missionary sisters, the largest shrimp was prepared with head, eyes and feelers especially for her. There was nothing else to do but devour her special gift, hard shell and all, which she managed to do without too much distress.

These visits to San Juan Talpa produced a number of Bible studies and several persons came into the truth, including a grade-school student Raúl Morales. His parents would give him a lot of work to do in an effort to prevent him from going to the meetings. But he did his work quickly, and went. Eventually he began going in the field service, and in due time he became a special pioneer and eventually a circuit overseer.

Another outlying place visited by the San Salvador brothers was Santo Domingo, where some of the families had thrown out the priest. Later the mayor of this town learned the truth, got baptized and served as a presiding overseer. Other places visited in those early days that now have congregations are Quezaltepeque, San Sebastián and Los Planes de Renderos, a hilly area south of the capital. It is very cool there, and many successful businessmen from the city go there to make their homes. Now there are a beautiful Kingdom Hall and a thriving congregation of Kingdom publishers there.

In 1953, 515 attended the Memorial in El Salvador, and the number of congregations increased to 10.

KINGDOM MESSAGE ATTRACTS A YOUTH

Rodrigo Guevara began on a regular basis to take The Watchtower and Awake! from missionaries on the street corner in San Salvador. He wanted his boy, Jorge, to have a good education, and he was alert to anything that would help him. He also ordered the books “Let God Be True” and “The Truth Shall Make You Free” for his 12-year-old son. In time, Rodrigo took Jorge to the Hall and commended him to the brothers. He began attending regularly, and enrolled in the Theocratic School.

The Kingdom message attracted Jorge, and the following year he was baptized. In the course of his theocratic career, Jorge had some bumps. One evening, he felt offended when the school servant gave him rather severe counsel after one of his assignments. Jorge threw his Bible to the floor in despair, determining never to return to the Hall. However, the following week he decided to go back and ask the brother’s forgiveness. As he entered, the school servant rushed up to him and asked his pardon. Jorge’s close association with the theocratic family supplied a lack in his lonely life; his father was always busy, though providing him with money for his expenses and food. And his mother and other members of his family lived far away.

BROTHER FRANZ VISITS

An outstanding surprise in the fall of 1953 was the visit of Brother F. W. Franz. He was the principal speaker at El Salvador’s New World Society Assembly held from October 13 to 18. The brothers were thrilled to hear him deliver the main talks given a few months before at the huge international assembly in New York’s Yankee Stadium. To the delight of everyone, 1,225 came to the National Theater in San Salvador to hear the public address “After Armageddon​—God’s New World.” The talk was simultaneously broadcast over one of the local radio stations.

FIRST OF THE SOCIETY’S FILMS

One of the outstanding features of 1954 was the republic-wide showing of the film “The New World Society in Action.” It truly enhanced the brothers’ appreciation of Jehovah’s organization. In the port town of Acajutla​—population about 3,000 persons—​a theater was offered free, along with an hour’s publicity over the loudspeaker. The results were that 400 attended and many people were attracted to the truth. One family asked that someone visit them since they wanted to become Jehovah’s Witnesses. Now there is a good-sized congregation in Acajutla. Experiences like this frequently followed the showing of the film in all parts of the country.

NEW BRANCH BUILDING

In December 1954, Brother Knorr visited El Salvador once again. By this time the construction of a new branch building at North Third Avenue and San Carlos Street was in progress. It is interesting how the building of this branch came about.

In 1949 Dorothy Thompson called on Paulina de Perla, the wife of the well-known engineer who had opposed the Catholic Church on the reconstruction of the cathedral. While Paulina bathed her little son, Baltasar, Jr., Dorothy witnessed to her. Although she manifested interest, communication was lost with her when she moved to another neighborhood.

Later, Paulina was found again, by Charlotte Bowin, and accepted a Bible study. Her husband, Baltasar, Sr., was then an undersecretary in President Oscar Osorio’s cabinet. Baltasar wanted to improve his English, and so he had his wife ask Charlotte if she would give him some private English classes. During these classes, Charlotte would talk about the Bible and the true religion. Eventually Baltasar became so interested that he asked Charlotte to study the Bible with him, in Spanish.

President Osorio’s government was having problems with the Catholic Church, so Baltasar suggested that the way to combat the Catholics was to set the Protestants against them. It was recommended that the president help the Protestants. He agreed, but where to begin? Baltasar invited Charles Beedle and Charlotte to talk with President Osorio. During this meeting they were able to give the president a good witness about God’s kingdom. He was very favorably impressed with what he heard and was glad to help the Witnesses.

Baltasar, although not yet having completely accepted the truth, expressed a desire to design and build a branch building for Jehovah’s Witnesses, without any professional charges. His plans were submitted to the Watch Tower Society in Brooklyn for approval.

Thus Brother Knorr, in December 1954, stood at the construction site, surrounded by first-story walls and iron framework, and gave a short speech translated into Spanish by Brother Beedle. He said that he hoped that the structure would soon be too small to care for the Kingdom work adequately in El Salvador. Since the home was to have six bedrooms, a dining room, a reception room, a kitchen, a pantry, a laundry, an office and a stockroom, besides the Kingdom Hall seating some 300 persons, plus space on the terrace for additional bedrooms, these comments seemed a little farfetched to those who listened.

EL SALVADOR CHANGES ITS APPEARANCE

During Osorio’s term as president the country started to develop impressively. New labor laws were established that provided social security benefits. Also, minimum wage laws went into effect. A new coastline highway was constructed, affording better access to the ports, such as the port at Acajutla, as well as breathtaking panoramic views for tourists. Changes in banking laws made conditions more favorable for investment and for opening new enterprises. As a result, a larger middle class was produced, and the standard of living for many was raised.

The goal of President Osorio, when he went into office in 1950, was to do away with the multiple compounds where the poor were obliged to crowd large families into a single room. Although this goal was not fully realized, the Urban Housing Institute began a systematic campaign of building four-story apartment buildings, as well as single dwellings, that could be bought or rented from the government by persons in low-income brackets.

So during the 1950’s El Salvador changed greatly from what it was when the first missionaries arrived. More and more cars began to appear. New motor buses replaced the old “green dragons,” many of which were truck beds with wooden bodies and homemade seats. Store windows displayed a variety of items to catch the eye of window-shoppers, and new factories sprang up everywhere.

APPRECIATION FOR SPIRITUAL THINGS

During Brother Knorr’s visit an assembly was held in the Workers’ Confederation Hall. The public talk “The Love of God to the Rescue in Man’s Crisis” was widely advertised. The Morales family in San Juan Talpa learned of the assembly, and young Raúl was determined to attend. He got up at three o’clock in the morning and walked more than 20 miles (32 km) to San Salvador to attend the assembly and was one of the 572 who heard the public talk. When he returned home, he was more determined than ever to keep on pursuing spiritual things.

ADJUSTMENTS IN MISSIONARY WORK

In December 1954 two new missionary couples arrived, Paul and Muriel Coconis and Daniel and Joan Elder. Paul and Muriel were immediately assigned to the San Miguel missionary home. Shortly afterward, however, the missionaries in San Miguel received notice that the home would be transferred to Santiago de María. This move was made so that the preaching work could be opened up in other communities.

The missionaries preached not only in Santiago de María, but in the surrounding villages as well. They would take a bus at six o’clock in the morning and usually return home on the last one in the evening. A Watchtower study was held on Sunday afternoons in Chinameca, and when the missionaries returned at night they would conduct another study in Santiago de María. On another day of the week they preached in Usulután, Berlín and Alegría. Much interest was developed in these places, and later, when the missionary home was moved, special pioneers were sent to some of these towns to follow up on the interest.

Also, early in 1955, the Santa Ana missionary home was moved to Sonsonate. So at this time there was a strong group of missionaries working out of missionary homes in Ahuachapán, Santiago de María, Sonsonate, and, of course, San Salvador.

A PATRIARCHAL FAMILY

Back in 1951 a young man in Santiago Texacuangos named Juan Peña began to study the Bible in earnest. He was baptized in 1952, and some time later began to pioneer. In time, he was appointed congregation servant in Santiago Texacuangos. Twenty of the people with whom Juan studied were baptized in this one congregation. His family alone made up a good-sized congregation. Juan’s grandfather, Abraham Peña, built a new concrete home so that there would be a more adequate Kingdom Hall.

One should not think that this activity of the Peña family was undertaken on the spur of the moment, an emotional reaction. They had always been very religious, and their home had been used by the Church as a depository for its images. Abraham’s wife, Lugarda, had about 20 images on a low table, and she spent an hour adoring and bowing before them each night. But as the seeds of truth were planted, Abraham called a family meeting in a cornfield to decide if the responsible heads of the family were in accord with the decision to abandon the Catholic Church. They were, so they moved into action.

Abraham bought a new station wagon, which his sons drove on excursions to other towns. These were not pleasure trips; they were for the purpose of bringing the Kingdom good news to these places. Sometimes the family would stay as long as two or three days. Brother Beedle, who usually went along on these trips, would give public lectures in the evenings. This was done in Sonsonate, and many people of interest were located. When the missionary home was established there in 1955, the interest was cared for by the missionaries.

PERSECUTION DEFEATED; SHEEP GATHERED

No sooner had the missionaries begun to work in Sonsonate than Italian-American priests started a campaign of hate and opposition against them. The leader of this group scorched Jehovah’s Witnesses nightly on his 15-minute radio program in the hope of rousing public opinion against them. Even though these priests had won the friendship of many of the people because of their liberal ways, some of their best friends told them to “lay off” the Witnesses.

The priests didn’t listen, however, and went so far as to excommunicate the landlord of the missionary home, because he would not expel the Witnesses from his house. The landlord, one of the most prominent men in Sonsonate, was not easily bluffed. Already his impression of the Catholic Church and its priestly representatives was not very good, and now it took a further plunge. His wife showed no signs of being perturbed over the excommunication edict either. This action cost the priests much prestige with the people, and the persecution was defeated. The missionaries continued faithfully carrying the message of life to the people, and today there is an active congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses in this city.

Sheeplike persons were also manifesting themselves in Ahuachapán. A young junior-high-school student was seen one day sitting outside the Kingdom Hall there listening to the meeting. His name was Pedro Guerrero. He was a small youth weighing probably less than 80 pounds (36 kg). When he was asked what he wanted, he said that he was looking for the Witnesses. From then on he began regularly to attend the meetings and received a home Bible study from Tillman Humphrey. In 1958 he was baptized, and he went on to enjoy many privileges in the organization, including serving as circuit servant.

DEFEATING THE SMOKING HABIT

A number of people with sheeplike dispositions had the smoking habit. One of these was an elderly man named Daniel Zaldaña, who lived across the street from the missionary home in Ahuachapán. He was a chain smoker, and it bothered him that he could not quit. Mary Nosal, the missionary who studied with him, told him to concentrate on his Bible study, and later he could decide what to do about the habit.

One night Daniel came to Mary with good news. He had finally quit smoking! He was baptized in 1956, and for the last 15 years he has been pioneering. What a fine example he sets! Although old, and suffering from bad health, he puts Kingdom interests first in his life.

About this same time two sisters, Juana and Herminia Escobar, were found by Mary Nosal. Besides being deeply involved in spiritism, they, too, were chain smokers. One of them would put a cigarette behind her ear to light as soon as she was finished with the one she was smoking. They also had an entire wall of the house covered with images, which they greatly esteemed. But, in time, these two sisters took down their images, gave up smoking completely and separated from spiritism. It became a common sight to see both of them at the circuit and district assemblies faithfully helping in the kitchen or dishwashing.

NEW BRANCH DEDICATED

In June 1955 the new branch building in San Salvador was completed. Long hours of hard work had gone into providing this comfortable home, office and Kingdom Hall. Jane Beedle wrote:

“We lived only two or three blocks from where the branch was being built. When my husband and Baltasar were putting the tar on the terrace and doing all the wiring, we would take a lunch over to them. They would sometimes work 14 hours a day to get the job done. When they were making the chairs Curtis Smedstad was here too, and how they did work to get the iron parts of the chairs made and welded. They made five hundred chairs. We missionary girls had an active part in getting the building clean and making curtains to have everything ready for the dedication.”

Brother John Parker came over from Guatemala to give the dedication talk. On that occasion Baltasar Perla surprised everybody by saying, “Jehovah God is responsible for this building.” This was the first time that he had acknowledged his belief in Jehovah as the Supreme Authority. Many people came to inspect the building and enjoy the ice cream that was served to all the visitors. The next day Brother Parker gave the public talk “Overcoming the Fears of This Generation.”

BALTASAR BECOMES A WITNESS

Shortly after the branch was completed, Baltasar Perla went to the United States on an invitation from the United States government. When he was in New York, he saw an advertisement for a correspondence course concerning Catholic doctrine. Here, he felt, was an opportunity to see what the Catholic Church taught about the Kingdom, which was the Bible subject that particularly appealed to him. He paid $200 (U.S.) for the complete course; this included two cartons of books and booklets.

Off he went to his hotel, and for the next three days he made comparisons of this literature with the Bible. He finally came to the conclusion that the Catholic religion was not in agreement with the Bible’s teaching. Since his business took him to various parts of the United States, he looked up the Kingdom Hall wherever possible.

In Columbus, Ohio, he made his dedication to Jehovah, and later, at an assembly in New York, he symbolized this dedication by water baptism. It was not particularly doctrinal information, he says, that attracted him to the Witnesses, but their Christian behavior. He was impressed by the happiness in their marriages, such as the marriage of Charles and Jane Beedle. He wanted his children to grow up and enjoy this happiness. In 1960, when Brother Curtis Smedstad left El Salvador, Baltasar became city servant of San Salvador.

A SECOND CIRCUIT FORMED

In October 1955 Saúl De León, a young pioneer from Santa Ana, was appointed circuit servant in place of Antolin Castillo Peña, who had become unfaithful. Then, in January 1956, a second circuit was formed, and Brother Smedstad was again made circuit servant.

ANOTHER SOCIETY FILM

In May 1956 Chrissie Wilson and Florence Enevoldsen joined the missionary ranks, bringing with them the Society’s new film “The Happiness of the New World Society.” Even though it was light outside, the missionaries immediately darkened the hallway in order to see it. Since Curtis Smedstad, a graduate of Gilead’s 14th class, had a car, he took this film from place to place showing it to hundreds of appreciative persons. Curtis tells of an experience in the northern part of the country.

“We had to pass through private property to another town. The owners had a toll for the privilege of using their road. Leaving our car there at the owner’s farm, we had to travel on by horseback. The arrangement was for us to pay when we returned. Well, along the way we were able to show the film to large crowds.

“By the time we returned to the farm, word had gotten back and they wouldn’t let us go on until we had shown them the film also. As it was daytime, they hurried up and gathered all the workers, about 75 or so, and crowded us all into a small room, shutting the doors and windows to make it dark. You can imagine the steam bath we got. Yet no one left, and all were very enthusiastic. As I made arrangements to pay for using their road, the manager refused, saying that they should pay me instead. Much literature was left.”

MISSIONARIES NEW AND OLD

Many of the new missionaries continued to experience the culture shock that often occurs when moving to a different country. Florence Enevoldsen and Chrissie Wilson were assigned to San Salvador. Florence reminisces:

“At our first meeting the only words that we understood in the whole two hours were ‘Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society.’ These were used in Charles Beedle’s closing comments. The following Sunday, we went out in the field service with a group that included Evelyn Hill. Evelyn patiently interpreted between the local brothers and us.

“We worked a particularly dirty ‘meson’ [housing facility for several families] that morning. Chrissie saw some huge cockroaches that duly impressed her and that, along with other conditions, contributed to making her somewhat ill. One lady kindly offered her a glass of water with an Alka-Seltzer. Having been warned of the water, she refused to drink it. So the local sister with her drank it so that the lady wouldn’t be offended. The publishers kindly saw us back to the missionary home, although we knew the way. But because of not being able to speak much Spanish, we couldn’t communicate sufficiently to convince them of it.”

As new missionaries came, older ones often left. Sometimes it was to get married. Charlotte Bowin, who had served seven years in El Salvador, became engaged to Albert Schroeder following the European assemblies in 1955. Early in 1956 she began her new assignment in New York, working at Kingdom Farm. Today Brother Schroeder is a member of the Governing Body, and Charlotte now serves with him and their 22-year-old son, Judah Ben, at Brooklyn Bethel.

FURTHER USE OF RADIO

Also in 1956 radio station YSAX began to broadcast the program prepared by Jehovah’s Witnesses, “Things People Are Thinking About.” These broadcasts continued for three years until the Catholic Church bought the station, when they were discontinued. Many people were attracted to the truth through these radio programs.

PROTEST TO RUSSIA

At the circuit assembly in August–September 1956 in San Salvador, a petition was presented protesting the mistreatment of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Russia. Some 500 voices joined in approval of this petition that was addressed to Soviet officials. Copies of the petition were given to the newspapers in El Salvador. Several of the papers printed the petition in part, or fully. It was also broadcast by some of the radio stations. Jehovah’s Witnesses in El Salvador thus took the opportunity to demonstrate their love for their brothers in Russia.

INTERFERENCE THWARTED

At the circuit assembly in the village of Armenia in December 1956 the program called for a showing of the Society’s film “The Happiness of the New World Society.” It was to be shown in a hall large enough to accommodate the number of people expected. However, somehow the Catholic priest in Armenia gained entrance to the place and cut the electric connections. Brother Beedle went to talk to the landlady about the problem and, while doing so, sensed that the priest was hiding behind the curtain. He asked the priest to come out, which he sheepishly did.

It was too late to make the necessary repairs for showing the film in the rented hall. However, the brothers arranged to show it against a white plaster wall, right out in the street. The result was that many more people saw the film there than would have seen it inside the hall.

SPECIAL PIONEER RANKS INCREASE

Angel Montalvo, the musician who had sold his guitar to buy a Bible, was now serving as a special pioneer in this same village of Armenia. His partner was Raúl Morales, the young man who had walked from his village of San Juan Talpa to attend his first assembly in San Salvador. It is interesting how he came to be a pioneer.

After his baptism in 1955 Raúl did not understand what a pioneer was. So when Charles Beedle, noting how active he was in the service, asked him if he was a pioneer, Raúl didn’t know what to say. Charles explained that a pioneer spends about 100 hours every month in the preaching work. Raúl then answered, “If that is what a pioneer is, then I guess I am one.”

After formally entering the pioneer ranks, Raúl accepted his first assignment in Cojutepeque as of January 1956. Later that year he went to Armenia to work with Brother Montalvo.

FIRST SALVADORAN GILEAD STUDENT

The young circuit overseer from Santa Ana, Saúl De León, became the first person from El Salvador to attend Gilead School. The missionaries had helped prepare him by teaching him English. He was invited in 1957 to the 31st class, and graduated the following year. This left a vacant spot on the circuit. Raúl Morales was chosen to take his place and began serving in September 1957.

YOUTH WITNESSES TO HIS FAMILY

The young lad, Jorge Guevara, who had thrown his Bible to the floor in despair on one occasion after being counseled by the Theocratic School servant, was making excellent spiritual progress. When he was only 16 years old, he gave his first public talk on the subject of evolution. In 1957 he graduated from high school. His mother and brother came in from El Hormiguero, a village about 90 miles (140 km) east of San Salvador, for his graduation.

Jorge had long felt resentment toward his family, blaming them for his loneliness as a youth. “If I hadn’t been a Witness,” Jorge says, “I would never have spoken to my family again.” However, now he began to witness to them. Though they were members of a Protestant sect, they listened to him attentively. Arrangements were made for Saúl De León, who was serving as circuit overseer, to visit them, and what he found amazed him.

There were five people who had made their decision to become Jehovah’s Witnesses just by reading the literature that Jorge had left them. Brother Saúl De León baptized them, and a crowd of 75 were present, which was a good witness in itself. Since then, more of the family of Jorge Guevara have learned the truth and have taken the step of baptism, and they continue faithful in Jehovah’s service.

IMPORTANT EVENTS IN 1957

In 1957 a compact Kingdom Hall-missionary home was completed in Santa Anita, a neighborhood in the south end of San Salvador. Shortly after its dedication in October, Gilead graduates Frederick and Dorothy Bowers and Kenneth and Virginia Kiesel arrived in El Salvador. The Kiesels, along with Chrissie Wilson and Florence Enevoldsen, were assigned to the new missionary home in Santa Anita. Florence writes, “We moved into the home in the midst of a tropical rainstorm. The water came in the house everywhere. We were bailing it out for several days.”

During 1957 two new congregations were formed to raise the total to 12 in El Salvador. There were also 46 full-time publishers, including 21 missionaries, working isolated territories. Both the Santiago de María and the Ahuachapán missionary homes were closed during the year and the congregations placed in the care of special pioneers.

Another fine circuit assembly was held in Sonsonate in 1957. The assembly site was the old City Hall. It had a concrete trough about 10 feet (3 m) square and two-and-a-half feet (.76 m) deep in the back patio. There 47 persons were baptized.

ASSEMBLY AT NEW SITE

In February 1958 Aubrey Bivens, the zone overseer, and M. G. Henschel from Brooklyn Bethel visited El Salvador for an assembly. The big problem facing the brothers was finding a suitable location for the gathering. Previous ones had been in the Workers’ Hall in San Salvador, but that was now too small to accommodate all who were expected. The solution to the problem was not long in coming.

Víctor Recinos, a friendly neighbor living on the north side of the branch home, had been watching the comings and goings of the Witnesses and admired them. One day, while conversing with Brother Beedle, he generously offered his property for the assembly. His large piece of property had a natural “bowl” that had been excavated for another project, and it was shaded by numerous and well-situated trees.

Many brothers helped to clear away the underbrush, and this left a clean, pleasant amphitheater. Since the public talk was entitled “The New Song for the Men of Good Will,” a low fence was built in front of the platform that was designed to give the appearance of a staff of music, with music notes for the uprights. Painted in gold, it was very attractive. Several large poinsettia plants in bloom completed the decoration.

There was a small building at the back of the property where the cafeteria facilities were set up. Much of the food was prepared at the branch home and transported across the street to the cafeteria. At the conclusion of the assembly each one lifted his chair, put it on his head, and carried it across the street to the Kingdom Hall at the branch. Many remarked that they had never before seen such cheerful cooperation.

POSTASSEMBLY TRAGEDY

Among the 61 who symbolized their dedication by water baptism at this assembly was a brother from La Unión who was of half Arabic descent. He was the first of the numerous Arabic population to become a Witness. On the Monday following the assembly Brother Beedle received word from a special pioneer in La Unión that the bus the brothers were on had been in an accident. Three brothers were instantly killed, including the one who had just been baptized.

Tears flowed as the brothers gathered at the scene of the accident and picked the convention notes, songbooks and other belongings from the wreckage. By the time Brother Beedle reached La Unión it was too late to give a funeral talk, since the crowds were already at the cemetery for the burial. The special pioneers in La Unión deeply felt the loss of their precious brothers who were the fruits of their labors.

ADJUSTMENT IN BRANCH MANAGEMENT

By the spring of 1958 Brother Beedle had, for ten years, taken almost sole oversight of the activity of Jehovah’s Witnesses in El Salvador. For much of this time he carried the duties of circuit and district servant, as well as congregation overseer, missionary home servant and chief errand boy. He had supervised the construction of the branch building as well as the Kingdom Hall-missionary home in Santa Anita. The pressures of all these responsibilities took their toll on him physically and mentally, and he needed some relief. So in April of 1958 Brother Frederick Bowers was appointed branch servant. That month 1,295 attended the Memorial in 13 congregations. And there was a peak of 460 publishers.

HEAD OF THEOCRATIC FAMILY DIES

In April 1958 Abraham Peña, Sr., died at a ripe old age. His wife, Lugarda, was 85 at the time. They had learned the truth only five years before. Shortly before his death Abraham called all of his children to his bedside to give them admonition to continue faithful to their dedication to Jehovah. Lugarda had borne him 17 children, only seven of which were alive at the time.

The meetings continued to be held in the Peña home. By 1971 all together 28 members of the family had been baptized. In that year Lugarda died at the age of 97. She had continued faithful, and the truth was clearly in her mind right up until her death.

ORIGIN OF USULUTÁN CONGREGATION

In 1958 Carlos Reyes, a member of the National Guard, began to study the Bible, and was moved by what he was learning to marry Rosa, the woman with whom he was living. Due to leaving military life, he found his economic situation very difficult, but his spiritual situation continued to improve. Within the year both he and Rosa were baptized. The next year they became pioneers and were assigned to Usulután, selling their furniture in order to make the move. A foundation was thus laid for a congregation there, beginning with only six publishers. Now there are over 90 publishers preaching the good news in Usulután.

SALVADORANS ATTEND NEW YORK ASSEMBLY

Up until 1958 only three or four Salvadorans had attended assemblies in the United States. But now, as the time for the Divine Will International Assembly in New York drew closer, enthusiasm ran high. All together 53 from El Salvador were able to make the trip.

A plane was chartered to Florida, where the brothers were met by Curtis Smedstad and Leticia Rosales, the former wife of Colonel Oscar Osorio. You will recall that Oscar had been president of El Salvador when Baltasar Perla began to study with the Witnesses. Baltasar had tried hard to help Oscar to progress in the truth, but Oscar was unable to withstand the attractions of worldly politics. However, Jane Beedle studied with Leticia, and when she eventually went to the United States she progressed in the truth and was baptized. She was so happy to be there to meet her countrymen.

Leticia bid the brothers farewell as they boarded the bus that had been chartered to take them to New York. Charles Beedle went along to help them with any problem they might have en route. At the assembly they rejoiced to be with their brothers from around the world, as well as Saúl De León, who was attending Gilead at the time.

Many Salvadoran brothers worked in volunteer service and some came home with a list of friends from other countries with whom they carried on correspondence. Pedro Aguilar, a special pioneer from La Unión, found this correspondence so interesting that he later went to the United States to marry a sister he was writing to. Raúl Morales faced the same decision, but he said he feared to bring a foreign girl to El Salvador. It might turn out like the European cars, he said, that you can’t always get parts for. He decided to continue his service in El Salvador where the need for Kingdom proclaimers was greater.

This assembly made a great impression on the brothers, and their minds and hearts carried indelible impressions of the love, harmony and unity in the New World Society. It was at a special get-together of all the convention delegates from El Salvador in a New York hotel that Jane Beedle announced that she and Charles would soon be parents. This meant that they would have to leave the missionary home. However, they were determined to remain in El Salvador.

FROM MISSIONARIES TO PARENTS

In the fall of 1958 the Beedles were busy trying to find accommodations outside the missionary home. One day Jane stopped at the market to talk to Paula Martínez, a Witness who was selling potatoes there. Jane explains what happened:

“There was a little stool behind the sacks of potatoes where I sat down. Paula knew that I was expecting a baby, so I mentioned that we would be leaving the missionary home and that we were looking for a place to live. She was so surprised that we would have to leave the missionary home. I explained to her that the brothers contribute their money to the Society for the sole purpose of getting the preaching work done. Therefore, no one who was raising a family, and thus was not in position to give full time to the preaching activity, would have a right to take up a place in the missionary home. She smiled so broadly and said, ‘What an organization we have!’ I really believe that the fact that we were ‘put out,’ so to speak, enhanced her appreciation of the organization.

“When we started raising a family, Charles had to find a secular job to make a living, as do most of our brothers. This common situation helped to create a certain closeness to the brothers that we did not feel before. Having common problems and difficulties gave us a tie with them that we hadn’t had as missionaries.”

Jessie Smedstad at this time also announced that she and Curtis would have a child. The Beedles found a lovely apartment that fall. The owner, Leticia Rosales, was still in the United States. The Smedstads also found a house near the branch office, and Colonel Osorio, the former president of El Salvador, gave each family some furniture to start housekeeping.

In January 1959 Ronald and Gladys Ash were assigned to El Salvador from the 25th class of Gilead. They were transferred to the Santa Tecla missionary home, and soon afterward announced that they were expecting a new arrival. Would they return to their home in Canada after only seven months in their assignment?

As yet they had very little experience with the people and the language, so it was really a difficult decision to make. Ronald’s four-month search for work ended with a job that he holds till now. They continue to associate with the Santa Tecla congregation, helping the missionaries strengthen the congregation there.

ASSEMBLIES IN 1959

In 1959 two circuit assemblies were planned, one for the circuit served by Saúl De León since his return from Gilead, and the other for the circuit served by Raúl Morales. Then thoughts were turned toward the national assembly. The previous year this was held in the lot across from the branch. This year a splendid location was found where the brothers had not looked before. It was the new community house for a modern housing development in one of San Salvador’s suburbs called Montserrat.

Ex-president Osorio once again manifested generosity toward Jehovah’s Witnesses by sending a butchered calf as a gift to the cafeteria. This assembly attracted 748 for the public talk “When God Speaks Peace to All Nations,” delivered by Brother Bowers.

A young mural painter, Violeta Bonilla de Cevallos, with whom Jane Beedle had been studying, offered to help to decorate the stage. Violeta had done well-known work on many national monuments, as well as murals in the president’s house and in other government buildings. She used as a model the illustration in The Watchtower of April 15, 1959, page 228, showing praisers of Jehovah from among people of all races. The mural she painted was photographed for newspapers and television and was cause for much comment. Violeta was one of the 61 baptized at this assembly.

A CHANGE THAT BROUGHT BLESSINGS

Celia de Liévano was Baltasar Perla’s secretary when he was in government. For some time he had tried to interest her in a Bible study, but with no results. One of the missionaries was asked to give her English lessons, and after these classes the missionary would witness to her. In time a Bible study was started, and Celia began to attend meetings and go in the field service. Finally, she was baptized at the national assembly in 1959.

Celia’s husband, Carlos, opposed her, principally due to his belief in evolution. He even took her to a Jesuit priest so that the priest could convince her that her new religion was wrong. With her newly acquired Bible knowledge, Celia not only defended her new religion but also proved the Catholic priest wrong. Thus in 1961 Carlos Liévano joined his wife as a baptized witness of Jehovah. Since then both of them have been active in speaking the truth to others.

All their lives the Liévanos had been taught to strive for professional prominence, and they were well on their way. When they decided to become Jehovah’s Witnesses, their worldly friends told them that they would now fail in the professional field and in anything else that they might try to do because they had left the Catholic Church. But as the Liévanos explain: “Looking back, we can see with appreciation the innumerable blessings we have received from the hand of Jehovah.”

NEW MISSIONARIES ARRIVE

September 1959 was an important month in the lives of four young girls: Winifred Scott, Patricia Hancock and Jean Unwin from England, and Tyra Mills from South Africa. These recent graduates of Gilead School were glad to see many missionaries at the airport to meet them. Then six more Gilead graduates from the 34th class were welcomed to El Salvador on May 5, 1960.

The scene was quite different from what it had been when earlier missionaries arrived. As their TAN Airlines plane taxied down the smooth runway, the new missionaries caught sight of a small but well-constructed and clean-looking airport. Their ride to the capital was no longer a breathtaking affair, but rather they rode in relaxed comfort along a paved, four-lane highway, enjoying the scenery of their new home. Thus it was that Samuel and Delores Stago, Leonard and Hilja Shimkus, and Paul and Marilyn Walthard were introduced to El Salvador. The very next day they began the month-long, 11-hour-a-day language course.

MISSIONARY ACTIVITY BEARS FRUITAGE

The work of the missionaries continued to bear fruitage. Before moving to Costa Rica to marry Charles Sheldon, Florence Enevoldsen started to study with Bessie de Cañas, who had a small store in the south end of San Salvador. Bessie’s husband, Héctor, opposed her from the beginning. But by the time that Florence turned the study over to Chrissie Wilson, Héctor had begun reading the magazines once in a while. He and Bessie were soon baptized, and Héctor now serves as an elder in one of the congregations that meet in the branch Kingdom Hall.

Also in 1960, Chrissie Wilson met Oscar Zeleya López who was 17 years old at the time. Chrissie, and whoever accompanied her, would sit on stones outside a little hut where the family slept. Oscar never missed a study, rain or shine. Chrissie still remembers many a Sunday afternoon when she would sit under an umbrella or tarp and conduct the study with the rain pouring down. Oscar, too, now serves as an elder in one of the San Salvador congregations.

POLITICAL DISTURBANCE

In September of 1960 college students joined in a rebellion against the government. It became necessary for the president, Colonel José María Lemus, to abdicate the presidency and leave the country the following month. A new six-man government called “La Junta” was formed. There were some skirmishes in the streets, and on one occasion a bus was turned over to form a barricade. After a few days things quieted down, but the city carried a few scars since trigger-happy desperados had gone through the capital, shooting public clocks maintained by the city or by commercial houses. Years passed before any of these were repaired or replaced.

The witness work was not greatly affected by all of this except that it was thought best that the missionaries do household chores for a few days until the rumors of violence disappeared. It was during this time that Baltasar was making his last efforts to help Colonel Oscar Osorio come into the truth. However, when Oscar went to the United States to live, his studies were interrupted. They were never renewed, and he died in 1969 without really doing much with the Bible truths he had learned. The situation, however, was quite different with another former ruler of El Salvador. It is interesting to consider his efforts in governing the country.

EL SALVADOR’S NEW GOVERNMENT

A member of the six-man Junta that began to rule El Salvador in October 1960 was Rubén Rosales. He was a military leader who had been prominent in ousting the Lemus regime. In fact, he had complete control of the planning and executing of the military part of the overthrow. The new Junta felt that it could be instrumental in changing conditions in El Salvador for the better. But matters did not work out as hoped, as Rubén explained:

“Things did not go as we planned. Shortly after we came to power, the archbishop called me. He said that he wanted to talk to the Junta in private, and that the discussion should be kept secret.

“The archbishop told us, in effect: ‘You are a new government and I am in position to support this government from the pulpit. In return, you can support us.’

“We knew what he was talking about. From the records available to us, we knew that Catholic religious institutions had been receiving financial support from the previous government. The archbishop obviously was interested in seeing a continuation of such considerations to the Church by our new government.

“I was a Catholic, but I could see that such preferential treatment was not proper; it was not constitutional. The other members of the Junta agreed. So the six of us refused to provide the Church financial support. The archbishop was visibly upset and suggested that we would regret our decision.

“Shortly, a campaign started from church pulpits. The priests asserted that our government was pro-Castro and pro-Communist. We had tapes made of these talks, so we knew the charges being made. But we felt it might do more harm than good to suppress this campaign, since the Church carried much weight with many.

“An adverse effect on our government was soon felt. There came to be suspicion about our political orientation. The United States was concerned and withheld recognition of us. But what were the facts?

“In time the Church-sponsored charges were seen to be unfounded, and the United States extended us recognition. The New York Times of December 1, 1960, said:

“‘The tendency to see communism and the new appeal of “Fidelismo” in every drive for political and social change in Latin America is a dangerous one. . . .

“‘The three civilian members of the junta, despite loose accusations of “Fidelismo,” are liberals and democrats. . . . All six men have pledged themselves to a democratic program and they deserve every chance to prove their goodwill.’

“Despite the vindication, great harm to our credibility had been done by the Church-sponsored vilification campaign. And when the army learned of the Junta’s intention of taking it out of the political situation, it also began to oppose the Junta. So the following year our new six-man government was overthrown and replaced by another government.”

Rubén Rosales went to the United States, settling in Los Angeles, California. There, a number of years later, he learned the truth and was baptized in August 1969. His entire family, including some relatives in El Salvador, also became Witnesses. For many years now he has served as an elder, sharing with others the only true hope regarding the way good government will be realized.

CIRCUIT WORK SUFFERS

The circuit activity received a blow when Brother Raúl Morales left the circuit work in August of 1960. For some time he had been torn between a desire to go to Gilead and to get married. In January 1961 he married Andrea Lazo, a young sister in the Santa Anita congregation.

About the same time, the other circuit overseer in the country, Saúl De León, became involved in immorality with a married missionary sister. In time, however, they turned from their wrong course, and once again are members of Jehovah’s clean organization. Thus, within a few months, both circuits lost their circuit overseers. So missionary Foi Bryen, whose wife had died only a few months before of a rare form of colitis, was chosen to replace Saúl De León on one circuit. And Pedro Guerrero, the young man who years before had come and sat outside the Kingdom Hall in Ahuachapán, replaced Raúl on the other circuit.

VISITS OF SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVES

Early in 1961 Aubrey Bivens made a timely zone visit. Shortly afterward Brother Knorr also visited El Salvador again. Raúl Morales was introduced to him, and Raúl, along with his wife, was placed on the special pioneer list. They were assigned to Santa Ana. At the time of these visits Samuel Stago was assigned to replace Brother Bowers as branch overseer, as of April 1, 1961.

PUTTING KINGDOM INTERESTS FIRST

For the Memorial in 1961 the attendance rose to 1,878, an increase of almost 300 over the previous year. Also, a new peak of 638 Kingdom publishers was reached that month. This fine progress was made possible in part by the hard work of people like Antonia Contreras, a schoolteacher who had been busy preaching the good news in the town of Juayúa since 1958.

In 1961 Antonia decided to leave her secular vocation and join the pioneer ranks. She thus became the first of the Salvadoran publishers to leave a professional career for the full-time service. Antonia has been richly blessed for her efforts and sacrifice. Now, some 20 years later, she is still in the pioneer service, and many have learned the truth from her diligent efforts. One of her Bible studies later became her pioneer partner.

STRENGTHENING GATHERINGS

In December 1961 the United Worshipers District Assembly was held. Once again the property of Mr. Recinos, located opposite the branch building, was used. Enthusiasm ran high as 1,200 persons came to hear the talk “When All Nations Unite Under God’s Kingdom” delivered by Brother Stago.

The following March Brother Knorr visited once again. A total of 1,130 came to hear his public talk in San Salvador’s National Gymnasium. This is a beautiful, modern gymnasium that can seat up to 11,000. It is built in the form of a bowl with no upright supports for the roof. This is a place that Jehovah’s Witnesses in El Salvador were to become well acquainted with.

KINGDOM MINISTRY SCHOOL

Earlier in the year, on February 5, 1962, the first class of the Kingdom Ministry School commenced in El Salvador at the branch headquarters. Congregation overseers, circuit overseers, special pioneers and missionaries attended and received valuable instruction. Eventually all the missionaries had opportunity to take the course. Brother David Hibshman, the branch overseer in Guatemala, came over for four months to teach the first three classes. When Brother Knorr made his visit in March, the second group was just beginning the course, and it was an additional treat for the students to meet him.

Arranging for carrying on the School was something new for everyone, but each one pitched in and things went along smoothly. Locating places for the students to sleep had to be taken care of in advance. Congregations in San Salvador responded by providing lodging, and a few students slept upstairs in the Kingdom Hall. Those who slept in the Hall had the assignment of going to market and helping to prepare breakfast. This meant that they had to rise very early in the morning, resulting in the following embarrassing situation.

A brother assigned to the early chores found himself locked out of the home on coming back early from the market. He did not want to ring the doorbell and awaken Brother Knorr. So he began to tap on the window of one of the bedrooms, calling Chrissie Wilson’s name and asking her to open the front door. What he did not know was that Chrissie had given her room to Brother Knorr. Brother Knorr, awakened by the tapping, began to say a word he had learned in Spanish, hoping to frighten the caller away. He shouted several times, “vámonos” (let’s go), thinking this meant “go away.” The only mention made of this at the breakfast table that morning was Brother Knorr’s comment that some very strange things happen in this home.

The first meals prepared for the students proved rather trying for some of them. They were used to picking up their food with a corn tortilla instead of using knife and fork. But, after a while, they became used to using silverware. Others couldn’t get accustomed to the kind of food prepared by the missionary sisters. However, nobody got sick or died of starvation, and there was very little complaining.

One of the missionaries invited the students to accompany her on sight-seeing tours of the capital. This enabled those from small towns to see some of the interesting spots. Still other missionaries, with the help of two or three students, took turns with the wash. Everybody was kept busy in work and in study, and by all cooperating a fine spirit of companionship was built up.

Raúl Morales had a special reason to remember the Kingdom Ministry School. His wife, Andrea, began the course in her last month of pregnancy, and gave birth to their daughter Dorotea before the class was over. So little Dorotea had a theocratic beginning. It is only natural to see her faithfully serving Jehovah more than 18 years later as a special pioneer.

NEW CIRCUIT SERVANTS

In 1962 the country was again in need of circuit servants. Foi Bryen married Marina Vidaurre, a young sister from the Soyapango congregation. And the family of Pedro Guerrero, who had been serving on the other circuit since August 1960, was growing so fast that his wife, América, could no longer manage to special pioneer and care for the children. Brother Hibshman, who was at the time teaching the Kingdom Ministry School, recommended two young men from Guatemala. They were zealous, anxious to learn and quite capable, although without circuit experience.

So on May 31, 1962, Marco Rolando Morales and Juan Mazariegos came to El Salvador and lived temporarily at the missionary home. They were given a few weeks’ training on the circuit, and then they were on their own.

ARRANGING CIRCUIT ASSEMBLIES

In the summer of 1962 Brothers Morales and Mazariegos had their initiation in assembly preparations. In the east, an assembly was arranged for San Miguel, and in the west one was scheduled for Sonsonate. Juan Mazariegos could not find a place suitable in Sonsonate for an assembly. The only place that appealed to him was a school, but schools had never been used for circuit assemblies in El Salvador. Juan went into action and talked to the school principal and then to the school delegate in Sonsonate. He was told to get a permit in San Salvador from the Office of Provisions and Student Housing. Permission was given to use the school, and so the assembly program was arranged.

However, shortly before the assembly Juan went to check on the school, and the principal said that the Witnesses would not be able to use it since the permit had been revoked. Juan rushed to San Salvador where he was told that the school could not be used due to clergy opposition. So he began a search for another suitable place, but without success.

Therefore Juan decided to fight for the use of the school and trust in Jehovah to help him. He called the Minister of Education and asked for an audience, but it was denied him since the minister was so busy. But Juan did not give up; he typed a nice letter to the minister, prayed for Jehovah’s guidance and, dressed in his very best, went to the minister’s home on Saturday morning, one week before assembly time. This resulted in an interview for the following Tuesday.

On that occasion Juan talked to an under-official of the minister. He was told that a decision would be made the following day. Juan spent Wednesday in Sonsonate preparing for the assembly, and a missionary sister went down to the ministry to obtain its decision. How happy Juan was to receive the wire, “Ministry grants permission to use school.”

The principal of the school gave Juan the keys to the school and the invitation to use anything that was needed. A total of 420 came to hear the public talk that Sunday. After the assembly the principal marveled at how clean the school was and asked when the Witnesses were going to have their next assembly there. Later the Ministry of Education wrote: “We gladly grant you permission to use the facilities of the schools because we recognize your order and cleanliness.”

COURAGEOUS MINISTERS ASSEMBLY

Shortly after this assembly was completed preparation began for the Courageous Ministers District Assembly, which was to be held August 31 to September 2, 1962. A contract was drawn up to use the National Theater in San Salvador, and by means of radio and newspapers the public was encouraged to attend. Then, shortly before assembly time, the contract was suddenly canceled. Fortunately, arrangements were made to use the National Gymnasium again, which, with its ample quarters for cafeteria, refreshment stands, and restroom facilities is an ideal place for assemblies. A total of 1,545 were in attendance for the public talk.

From this time on district assemblies became better organized. Baltasar Perla was the assembly overseer, and other Salvadoran brothers also began to share in caring for responsibilities. The missionaries were no longer able to handle all that is involved in putting on these larger assemblies. The Gymnasium was left in such good condition that the Witnesses were welcomed to use the facilities in the years to follow.

ADJUSTMENT IN BRANCH ADMINISTRATION

Samuel Stago and Marco Rolando Morales were invited to attend the 10-month Gilead course in 1963. In January they left for New York, and Leonard Shimkus took over the duties of branch servant. This became a permanent assignment due to developments later in the year. At that time it came to public notice that, some years before, Brother Stago had been involved in immoral conduct. So he was removed as branch servant and disfellowshiped.

Samuel’s wife, Delores, continued to special pioneer in San Salvador, and Samuel joined her there faithfully attending all the meetings. A year later he was reinstated to the joy of all the brothers. He and Delores have ever since been truly a strengthening aid to the Christian organization in El Salvador, with Samuel now serving as a member of the branch committee.

As 1963 was drawing to a close the minds of the brothers turned once again to preassembly work. The “Everlasting Good News” assembly was to be held in the National Gymnasium December 26 to 29. A total of 25 were baptized there, and 1,340 attended the public talk given by Baltasar Perla.

NEW SOCIETY FILM

During 1964 the Society’s new film “Proclaiming ‘Everlasting Good News’ Around the World” was shown in El Salvador. The film shows the common heritage of all false religions. This presentation was very appropriate in El Salvador because false worship runs rampant here. As viewers watched, the connection between the worship conducted by the churches of Christendom and ancient Babylonish religion was easy to see.

Interestingly, El Salvador has shrines and churches built for the veneration of at least 14 different virgins, such as the Virgin of Transito, Virgin of Candelaria, Virgin of Guadalupe and others. Of course, there are many shrines and altars dedicated simply to the Virgin Mary.

A MAN WHO HELPED WITH PUBLICITY

In visiting radio stations to make arrangements for assembly publicity, Julia Clogston met Rafael Castellanos, the manager of radio station YSU. A Bible study resulted. On the first study Rafael handed Julia a copy of Lecomte du Noüy’s Human Destiny, and said: “This is where I am now. See what you can do with me.”

That was in March 1964. Rafael and his wife were two of the 2,853 in attendance at the Memorial celebration later that month. In May he offered the Society time on station YSU for the program “Things People Are Thinking About.” Also, the station began broadcasting spot announcements whenever there was an assembly or special meeting to be publicized. This couple and their two boys, Roberto and Ricardo, in time were baptized.

MILTON HENSCHEL IS ASSEMBLY GUEST

The “Fruitage of the Spirit” District Assembly was held in February 1965 in the National Gymnasium. By this time the brothers had begun to think of the place as “our Kingdom Hall for once a year.” Milton Henschel from the Brooklyn headquarters was then visiting El Salvador as zone overseer, and he gave the public address “‘Peace Among Men of Good Will’ or Armageddon​—Which?” A total of 2,416 heard the talk, which was an increase of more than a thousand over the maximum attendance of the previous district assembly held in December 1963.

ENLARGED PRIVILEGES OF SERVICE

The circuit overseer Juan Mazariegos was invited to the 40th class of Gilead, and Juan De Dios Peña took over his circuit. Also in 1965 Baltasar Perla, Jr., came to enjoy enlarged privileges of theocratic service. It had been many years since his mother, Paulina, had first learned the truth. In July young Baltasar was accepted in Brooklyn Bethel, where he is still faithfully serving. Since December 1978, Hernán Peña, a member of the Peña family of Santiago Texacuangos, has also been serving at Brooklyn Bethel.

In 1965 a new peak of 2,914 persons attended the Memorial, and the number of Kingdom publishers rose to 961.

“DAY OF THE CROSS” EARTHQUAKE

Early each May the markets in El Salvador offer an exceptional variety of fruits so that the people can decorate their wooden crosses for the Day of the Cross, celebrated by many Catholics of San Salvador and environs on May 3. But at 4 a.m., May 3, 1965, something happened that changed all their plans. The Libro de Oro (Book of Gold) published by La Prensa Grafica explains:

“At 4 a.m. today the most violent earthquake registered in 46 years shook the capital and the towns of Ilopango, Soyapango, Mejicanos, Villa Delgado, Santo Tomas, San Marcos and other neighboring places. The intensity of the movement was 7.5; the National Emergency Committee has entered into full activity.”

Hundreds of adobe homes became rubble. The quake created the sensation of a freight train running through the house. If the house did not fall, bottles, knickknacks, china, pictures, and plate-glass windows were shattered. Over a hundred persons were killed, and hundreds more were seriously hurt. Thankfully none of the Witnesses were seriously injured. Nor did the branch building suffer damage beyond some cracks in the plaster.

One missionary couple had heard that you should crawl under the bed in an earthquake. But they looked like a couple of ostriches as they tried this; only their heads would fit under. After the first tremors, another missionary ran to the dining room and took all the dishes in the cupboard and placed them neatly on the floor so they wouldn’t be broken. The next missionary that went to the dining room thought that the quake had left the dishes nicely stacked on the floor, not breaking a one.

INTERNATIONAL ASSEMBLY OF 1966

Over 300 foreigners visited El Salvador from 13 countries to attend the “God’s Sons of Liberty” international assembly, December 10-14. Again the National Gymnasium was the site for the gathering. Radio, TV and newspapers as usual cooperated in giving good publicity.

Fred Franz delivered the discourse “Preach Liberty to the Captives” on the opening day to an audience of 1,640. Since there were only 995 Witnesses in the country, it was evident that many of the public were appreciating the assembly too. Then when Brother Franz gave the public lecture “Mankind’s Millennium Under God’s Kingdom,” with an attendance of 4,780, the brothers’ hearts ran over with joy. On Sunday night even a greater crowd​—4,989—​came back for the touching dramatization of the endurance of Jeremiah.

Brother Franz sat in the bleachers during the drama. Not realizing whom he was talking to, a visitor asked him who this F. W. Franz was that had received so much publicity. The man expressed some differences with Jehovah’s Witnesses, and Brother Franz answered him, giving Biblical reasons for our beliefs. Then, shortly before the end of the session, Brother Franz left to conduct the final song and prayer. Great was the surprise of this man to discover that it was Brother Franz who had been sitting beside him in the audience. He commented to many afterward that only among Jehovah’s Witnesses could you find a person in such a position of responsibility who was so humble.

There always had been many of the public at assemblies of Jehovah’s Witnesses. Sometimes the attendance would be two or three times the number of Witnesses, but at this assembly the public outnumbered the Witnesses by a ratio of four to one! Since many of the visitors from other lands were lodged in the modern Intercontinental Hotel, it was possible to use their beautiful swimming pool for the baptism.

Tours were arranged so that the visiting assembly delegates could see some of the lakes and volcanoes of El Salvador. Some regretted not having time to spend a few hours of rest and swimming at beautiful, volcanic Lake Coatepeque. However, they were delighted to take pictures of this sapphire-blue gem, with its lava deposits protruding from the tranquil surface to form small islands. Also, the ferns and tropical plants of the country were fascinating to the travelers.

THIRD CIRCUIT FORMED

During the assembly it was suggested that a third circuit be formed, since El Salvador now had 20 congregations and a good number of isolated groups. So in January 1967 Marvin Roth, one of the missionaries, was appointed circuit overseer. He joined Brothers Morales and Mazariegos, who cared for the other two circuits. The Memorial attendance figure of 3,363 in 1967 showed the wonderful prospect for increase.

WHEN WAS JESUS BORN?

Some time after the assembly, radio station YSEB raised the question as to when Jesus was born. As a large number of observations poured in, the station was surprised by the differences of opinion. What they thought would be a simple question with a simple answer had turned into a very complex situation.

One day a representative of the radio station visited the Society’s branch, asking that someone come and give a short discourse on the subject on the radio. This assignment was given to the young circuit overseer, Juan Mazariegos. The Catholic archbishop, along with a priest and a Protestant minister were also invited. Each clergyman spoke a few minutes, and even the archbishop and the priest could not agree as to when Jesus was born. None of them cited the Bible for their answer.

When Brother Mazariegos was given the microphone, he spoke for 30 minutes showing from the Bible why Jesus must have been born around October 1 of the year 2 B.C.E. Many letters were sent to the station asking for more information, and some of these resulted in Bible studies. One letter was from a priest that Brother Mazariegos was able to locate and visit.

MORE APPRECIATED HELP

Reporting on the international assembly in December 1966, the March 8, 1967, Awake! carried the article, “El Salvador​—A Gem of the Tropics.” For a number of Witnesses this created an interest to move here to serve where the need for Kingdom proclaimers is greater. John Trayer and his wife arrived almost simultaneously with five new missionaries from the 44th class of Gilead​—Concha Dorantes, Juanita Alarcon, Elizabeth Naviski, and Richard and Sandra Bryan.

In October 1968 John Trayer began to pioneer with his wife Betty, and in April 1969 he was appointed overseer in a congregation in San Salvador. Speaking of the changes he had to make, John said a few years ago:

“The greatest difficulty for me was the language, and for Betty it was leaving the children, even though they were grown. The transition to different living conditions presented some problems also, and the heat bothered us. But the gains were in the form of helping to organize a new congregation, and helping with the work at assemblies and in building and maintaining Kingdom Halls. Yes, we are really happy that we came!”

In January 1968, Charles and Eleanor Taylor, along with their children Barry and Monica, arrived. In time the family was sent to Apopa, a village to the north of the capital. The group of 15 publishers there were very happy to have the Taylors with them. Some time later a congregation was established, and Charles was made congregation overseer. In April 1971 he was busily making arrangements for a circuit assembly in Apopa. Regarding their service, Charles commented:

“A family like ours can often serve in a capacity that the Society’s missionaries cannot. For example, generally the missionaries don’t have automobiles to help groups that are in dire need of mature brothers. So, as a family, we can speak from experience and say that a special blessing is in store for those who desire to cast out their nets in foreign waters where the need is greater.”

Not long after coming to El Salvador in 1968, the Taylors had a third child, who is now progressing toward physical and spiritual maturity. Monica is happily married and living in the United States, while the rest of the family served their brothers in Apopa until just this past year when, for economic reasons, they also returned to the United States. There are now two congregations in Apopa, and they have their own Kingdom Hall.

1967 DISTRICT ASSEMBLY

For the “Disciple-making” District Assembly in December at the National Gymnasium, 3,005 were present for the public talk given by Baltasar Perla. By means of articles and pictures in the newspapers and on television the Bible dramas were advertised weeks before the assembly.

The Salvadoran brothers take the dramas seriously, showing great appreciation for the privilege of having a part in them. For weeks before each assembly they faithfully practice together. And real effort is made to have costumes that authentically fit the Bible times. No doubt all such efforts are part of the reason for the large attendances at the district assemblies.

NEW BRANCH SERVANT

In 1968 the immigration authorities informed the missionaries of new regulations. If the missionaries desired to stay in the country after five years, they would have to pay $800 for permission to become permanent residents. Otherwise they would have to leave the country. The branch overseer, Leonard Shimkus, and his wife had already been in El Salvador more than five years, so they were notified that they would have to leave. Leonard was able to extend their stay for one more year. After that, the Society advised them they should leave and go to Guatemala where they could continue their missionary work.

Thus, in the spring of 1968, Marco Rolando Morales was notified that he would replace Brother Shimkus as branch overseer on June 1, 1968. Juan De Dios Peña was then appointed to replace Brother Morales in the circuit work.

CONTINUED EXPANSION

The Memorial attendance in 1968 leaped to 4,027, an increase of 664 over the year before. Also, in April 1968 the seventh congregation was formed in San Salvador. This was in the section Villa Delgado, now called Ciudad Delgado. The congregation was made up of 29 publishers meeting in the home of José Montoya. The new branch overseer, Brother Morales, was assigned as congregation overseer. Because most of the brothers here were so new, Brother Morales at first handled most of the meeting parts, besides caring for the literature, magazines and territories. However, gradually other brothers began to take more responsibility in the congregation.

During 1968 the preaching work began to be opened up in many different areas. Brother and Sister Stago concentrated their efforts in the small community of San Ramón, situated on the slope of San Salvador Volcano. At the time there were no Kingdom publishers there.

Brother Stago made a return visit on the owner of the principal store in San Ramón, whose mate had taken some literature. This man, José Chavez, was of an extremely violent nature and had a large collection of bad practices. Yet he had a spark of respect for the Word of God. Thus a study was arranged. In time José’s bad habits were replaced with good ones, and he began to attend the meetings. Now six members of the family have been baptized, and José is an elder in one of the San Ramón congregations.

Sister Stago started a study with Domitila Paz, her sister Ana Paz and Domitila’s common-law husband, Isabel Escobar. Little did she realize that these women were the daughters of Brother Martín Paz, who had died back in 1960 after refusing a blood transfusion. These women now made rapid advancement in the truth. In time Ana became a pioneer, and later served as a special pioneer. Domitila and Isabel got legally married and now associate with the San Ramón congregation. Other members of the family also soon learned the truth. How happy Martín Paz will be when he awakens from his rest in the grave to see all these family members of his serving Jehovah!

In December 1968 the “Good News for All Nations” District Assembly was again held in the National Gymnasium, with 4,500 attending the public talk and 109 getting baptized. This was a thrill for six new missionaries who arrived in the country in November.

A SUDDEN TRAGEDY

In the February 15, 1968, Watchtower advertising the “Good News for All Nations” District Assemblies, the statement was made that something was planned that “will have considerable influence on the work that we will be doing during the years to come.” One of those most anxious to hear about what this might be was Charles Beedle. After serving for many years as branch servant, he had obtained work in El Salvador, and Jane and he now had three children, Sandra, Charles, Jr., and Susie.

As the first missionary left for the district assembly in California, Charles bid her farewell and commissioned her to send back the news immediately. She did, but before the news arrived about the book The Truth That Leads to Eternal Life and the six-month study program, Charles had been buried in the general cemetery of San Salvador. His death on July 7, 1968, was sudden and a shock to all the brothers. He died following an infection from a fishbone that lodged in his hand, and tetanus shots given him. Some were heard to say, “We lost our ‘tata’ [daddy].”

The funeral was held in the branch Kingdom Hall, which Charles himself had helped to build just 13 years before. Brother Perla gave the funeral discourse. More than 500 were in attendance, although less than 12 hours had passed since Charles had died.

In the cemeteries of El Salvador there are many memorial tombs of fine brothers and sisters waiting to be resurrected following Armageddon. It will then be a grand privilege for the survivors to enjoy their companionship once again in carrying on Jehovah’s educational work.

MORE BROTHERS COME TO SERVE

Since the district assemblies in 1968 had stressed serving where the need for Kingdom proclaimers is greater, in a short time El Salvador received nearly 400 letters about the matter. Brothers wrote from Europe, North America and islands of the sea. But since only highly skilled technicians could get work in El Salvador, most of those who would come needed to have an income from outside the country. So in 1969 there were eight families who had made their home in El Salvador, including the Trayers and Taylors who had come shortly before. These brothers and their families helped to strengthen the congregations and their presence was highly appreciated. Most of them, however, have since had to leave.

EVEN THE BLIND CAN SEE

With the acquisition of the Truth book, the work began to move ahead more rapidly. Interested ones were being helped to make a decision much sooner. One of these was a blind man named Filadelfo Alvarado, whom Sam Stago studied with. He was soon sharing in field service, got baptized, and started a Bible study with his grandchildren who began attending meetings with him. In time Filadelfo was even handling parts in the Theocratic School and on the service meeting.

About this same time Delores Stago offered the Truth book to a lady who told her: “I’d like the book but it wouldn’t do me any good. I’m blind.” Delores offered to read the book to her and this lady, Victoria Carias, was pleased to hear this. As the Bible study progressed, Victoria said: “Before I was always crying and sad. But now I have a real hope, thanks to Jehovah.”

She began to associate with the Zacamil congregation too, along with the blind man, Filadelfo. Soon they both were happy Kingdom publishers, sharing in field service, chatting away with the brothers at meetings and encouraging one another in their Christian activities.

100-HOUR WAR

In July 1969 El Salvador had trouble with her neighbor, Honduras, ostensibly over a soccer game. About the same time many of the brothers were leaving to attend the “Peace on Earth” assemblies in the United States. A large delegation went to the one in New York. Then the trouble with Honduras turned into war. On July 14 El Salvador bombed Honduras, and that night Honduran planes came to bomb El Salvador and all the electric power was turned off. One of the missionaries wrote:

“After the bombing of the airport no planes would come in, and there was no mail. The brothers were constantly calling about the meetings and Juan De Dios Peña arranged to have them in the afternoons. . . . We put the file cabinet against the outside office door because it was so heavy, and we hid the branch money when rumors were spread about paratroopers being dropped from Honduran planes.”

There were so many rumors that no one knew what to believe. On the fourth day the fighting stopped when the Organization of American States (OAS) threatened a boycott on Salvadoran coffee. Estimates of the dead ran into the thousands. There were also many stories of atrocities on both sides.

Thousands of refugees returned to El Salvador from Honduras, including some Salvadoran brothers who had been living in Honduras. Most of them had lost their material things. Among those who returned was Mario Flores, who had served in the circuit work in Honduras after graduating from Gilead. Soon after returning he married a sister he had met at Gilead, and they went into the circuit work in El Salvador.

The war was indeed a harrowing experience. However, as soon as the brothers began to return from the assembly the ones who had remained behind began to relax and concentrate on all the good news the brothers were bringing.

BRANCH CHANGES

The branch servant Rolando Morales got married and was replaced in 1969 by Domenick Piccone. Domenick and his wife, Elsa, had graduated from the 23rd class of Gilead and had been serving in Morocco. Domenick was the branch servant there before being deported in May of 1969. Not being able to return to Morocco from the assembly in New York, they were reassigned to El Salvador, arriving on October 31, 1969.

Brother Piccone was the first person who had previous branch experience to serve in the El Salvador branch. Also, he was already familiar with the language and customs, having served in Spain and Portugal before Morocco. One of his first concerns was preparation for the “Peace on Earth” District Assembly in January 1970. It was again held at the National Gymnasium, where 3,850 came to hear the public talk “The Approaching Peace of a Thousand Years.”

Just a few weeks before, on December 16, 1969, work began on enlarging the branch building. At its construction 15 years before, Brother Knorr looked forward to the increase of Kingdom publishers that would necessitate enlarging the building. That time had finally come.

Three new rooms were added upstairs, and the lower floor received a complete new paint job. Also, the piece of land to the north of the building, measuring 37 by 89 feet (11 x 27 m), and which allows the branch property to extend to the corner, finally became available for purchase.

OTHER ASSEMBLIES IN 1970

In October and November 1970 the three circuits made up of 25 congregations held their assemblies in Sonsonate, San Miguel and Soyapango, with a total attendance of 2,909. Raúl Morales served as district overseer for these assemblies, and Mario Flores, Juan Mazariegos and Juan De Dios Peña were the circuit overseers. A total of 83 were baptized. A visitor at one of the assemblies was Chiang Kai-shek’s ambassador to El Salvador who was studying the Bible with a Witness at the time.

In December the eighth district assembly was held in the National Gymnasium. There were 1,785 publishers in the field service that month. Yet at the assembly the attendance rose to 5,322 for the drama “Love Is a Perfect Bond of Union.” This was the largest attendance the Salvadoran brothers had enjoyed at any assembly. And 4,072 were present for the public discourse “Saving the Human Race​—in the Kingdom Way,” given by Brother Piccone. The many brothers who had come from other countries to serve in El Salvador helped behind the scenes to make everyone more comfortable and free to enjoy the assembly.

MARVELOUS GROWTH

In 1971 the growth in number of congregations and isolated groups called for the addition of a fourth circuit. During the year there was an average number of 1,949 publishers each month, an increase of more than 400 over the previous year. This meant that about half the publishers in El Salvador had become Witnesses in the previous five years​—since 1966—​when there were only 995 publishers!

On April 9, 1971, there were 7,924 persons who celebrated the Memorial. That meant an average of over 230 persons met together with each of the 34 congregations in the country. Of all these persons, only two partook of the emblems to indicate that they had the heavenly hope of sharing with Christ in ruling over the earth.

NEW CONGREGATIONS FORMED

The Increases in publishers required the forming of new congregations, and brothers who had come to serve where the need is greater were having a prominent share in the work. A congregation was formed in Chalchuapa. Charles Taylor was appointed congregation overseer in the new congregation of Apopa, and Joseph Backloupe, an ex-missionary who had served in Bolivia, was appointed overseer of a new congregation in San Salvador. Also, Robert Wolfe, who had left an exterminating business in New York city to come to El Salvador with his wife, Edel, was appointed assistant congregation overseer in a congregation in the capital. In March 1971 the growing congregation in Santa Ana was divided. The Juayúa group had grown sufficiently to become a congregation, and another was formed in El Platanar near San Miguel.

Attention also was given to isolated groups of publishers. John Trayer left the capital in 1971 to help the group in Cojutepeque, a town east of San Salvador. Publishers in San Sebastián and Ilobasco were also given attention, and, as a result, congregations were established there. Now the people in these territories are constantly visited by Jehovah’s Witnesses.

The brothers who had come here from other countries to serve are greatly loved and appreciated by the Salvadoran brothers. They have filled many needs with their contributions of time, equipment and their zealous activity in the field service.

PRESIDENT’S DAUGHTER LEARNS TRUTH

In March 1967 Fidel Sánchez Hernández became president of El Salvador. Not long afterward his teen-age daughter Marina began searching for the truth about God. Let her explain how this came about:

“I grew up in a nonreligious atmosphere, where false religion had been exposed. Neither my mother nor my father had any connection with the Catholic Church due to their previous personal experiences with the Church.

“My father assumed the presidency when I was 13 years old, and I remember how the most prominent clergymen, like bishops and cardinals, desired to have a close relationship with the family. However, was it to help us spiritually? Well, my mother very frankly expressed that she would only attend church functions when they had to do with official State matters. The clergy never showed any interest in helping us spiritually. They only appeared on the scene when a political campaign was taking place or when a national problem arose.

“I had been trained to distrust everyone. It was proved to me that there was a reason for this mistrust, when one night there was an attempt to overthrow my father as president. I was the only member of the family at home with my father when the shooting started. I really experienced the fear of death as bullets almost hit me. I called for God’s help, for I did believe in his existence. I faithfully promised that if I came out of this alive, I would search for him and try to find him.”

Marina could not turn to the clergymen for guidance, as she had witnessed how they were so involved in politics. And now they became the mediators between the government and the rebels. This disappointed her deeply. Where could she turn for help? She associated briefly with various Protestant sects and with some Jews, but did not find God. Then Marina and her fiancé accepted a study with Jehovah’s Witnesses. Today, as a happily married Christian couple, they are so thankful to be among Jehovah’s people where they can serve God with their spiritual brothers and sisters in a climate of genuine trust.

AN APPRECIATED FAMILY

In 1971, Joseph and Nancy Tremblay, with their two children Jennifer and Tony, came from the United States to serve in El Salvador. Joe had worked as a choreographer in New York before learning the truth, and had gone to California to visit his family who were Jehovah’s Witnesses. While there he had an opportunity to talk to other Witnesses, and he noted that his own family was not living up to what Jehovah’s Witnesses teach. So he decided to investigate. What he discovered was a “purpose in life.”

The truth touched Joe’s heart and he called his boss in New York and resigned from his job. All the energy, ideas and time that he had formerly spent on worldly pursuits he now dedicated to spiritual ones. He and his wife decided to look for a way to keep busy spiritually, and thus protect themselves from the spirit of the world. That is how they happened to come to El Salvador.

It is well remembered how Joe one time asked about the allowance given to special pioneers. When he was told what it was, he replied: “Why, that wouldn’t even pay for the olives I put in my cocktails.” Little did he realize that his days of cocktails and olives were coming to an end. Now, after nine years of pioneer service, constructing Kingdom Halls and caring for assembly responsibilities, Joe’s zeal and enthusiasm have not diminished. In his present assignment in Metapán, he has recently helped in the building of a new Kingdom Hall.

ASSOCIATION OF JEHOVAH’S WITNESSES

Since its beginning in 1945, the preaching and disciple-making activity of Jehovah’s Witnesses had been done without legal recognition. Now, in 1972, the “Association of Jehovah’s Witnesses” was formed in El Salvador. As a legal instrument, it aids in carrying out the purpose of helping the people of the country to know Jehovah and to become true Christians.

By means of the Association, the Witnesses are able to buy property for Kingdom Halls, as well as for assembly halls and missionary homes. Over the years many fine Kingdom Halls have been built in the country, including one in San Marcos. For that hall rocks were blasted out of a nearly vertical piece of land, and the walls were constructed of these rocks and iron reinforcement. Up to the present time there are 42 Kingdom Halls in the name of the Association, as well as an assembly hall, and missionary homes in Santa Ana and San Miguel.

It was Alejandro Lacayo, one of the five new missionaries that arrived on May 5, 1972, who planted in the minds of the brothers the idea of building a new missionary home and Kingdom Hall in San Miguel. By August 1974 the new home, which is attached to the Kingdom Hall, was ready for use. It is a comfortable three-bedroom home with kitchen, living room, patio and large entranceway. In San Miguel, where the work has been slower in growing, there are now four congregations.

GROWTH SPEEDS UP

We have noted a number of times how the activities of Jehovah’s Witnesses had become well known in El Salvador. As a result, often attendances at meetings and assemblies were three and four times the number of persons who actually were Witnesses. Now, during the early and mid-1970’s, many of these persons who were associating with the Witnesses made their dedication to Jehovah, began proclaiming the Kingdom message and got baptized.

In 1973 the average number of Kingdom publishers leaped to 2,854, nearly 1,000 more than two years before. But truly amazing increases were yet to follow. In 1974 the average number of publishers skyrocketed to 4,065​—a peak of 4,535 was reached—​and 1,509 new ones were baptized! But the increase did not let up.

The following year 1,612 more were baptized, and the number of publishers jumped to an average of 5,124! So for the second year in a row there was an increase of well over 1,000 publishers! Then, in 1976, 984 more persons were baptized. Also, the number of those proclaiming the Kingdom message leaped that year to an average of 5,632 each month!

Thus, in just three years, there were 4,105 new persons baptized. And the number of Witnesses in El Salvador nearly doubled​—going from 2,854 to 5,632!

CARING FOR THE GROWTH

As you can imagine, this tremendous growth created pressures on the organization to expand so as to care for all the new ones. In just one year​—from 1972 to 1973—​the number of congregations was increased from 36 to 68. The following year 23 more congregations were added, and by 1976 there were 118 of them in the country. So in just four years the number of congregations in El Salvador more than tripled, going from 36 to 118! Surely there was a need for providing spiritual help to all the new ones in the organization.

As the number of congregations increased, there was a need for more circuits, and hence of capable brothers to serve as circuit overseers. So Samuel Stago and Carlos Reyes, the former National Guardsman who had helped in forming the Usulután congregation many years before, were appointed to circuit activity. Because of the rapid growth, not always were the new circuit overseers men long experienced in the truth.

For example, it was in the late 1960’s that Gladys Romero was able to interest her husband Saúl in studying the Bible. But when finally he was convinced he had found the truth, he embraced it wholeheartedly. He was baptized in 1970, and by February 1971 he was a regular pioneer. In 1975 he was appointed to share in the circuit activity.

Still other circuits needed to be added. But who could serve as traveling representatives of the Society? Carlos Villanueva and Roberto Guzman, two young special pioneers, were the answer. What they lacked in experience, they made up in faithfulness and hard work. Today there are 137 congregations and 23 groups in El Salvador and these are divided into eight circuits.

ASSEMBLIES STIMULATE GROWTH

The district and international assemblies continued to be held at the National Gymnasium in San Salvador. These annual gatherings were a great stimulus to the brothers to press on in their Kingdom preaching and disciple-making work. At the “Divine Rulership” assembly in 1972 further information was provided regarding the new arrangement for congregational administration by a “body of elders,” rather than by a “congregation servant.” Now, eight years later, there are a total of 182 elders in the country. Since that is an average of only a little more than one elder per congregation, you can see that the need is still great for mature, qualified help in El Salvador.

The “Divine Victory” International Assembly at the National Gymnasium in December 1973 was the most inspiring one held until then. Up to that time, the largest number of Kingdom publishers reporting in any one month had been 3,310. So how many could be expected to attend this assembly? An amazing total of 10,788 persons jammed the gymnasium! But there was even a greater surprise. At the baptism, 1,046 presented themselves as persons who had dedicated their lives to do Jehovah’s will and now wanted to symbolize this by public expression. This represented almost a third of the maximum number of publishers for the year. Truly the harvest was great!

What would the “Divine Purpose” District Assembly bring? It was scheduled for December 1974, again in the National Gymnasium. Would the place hold all the people? The Memorial celebration in April gave a clue as to what to expect. On that occasion a total of 15,836 were present, almost twice as many as were present just three years before for the Memorial of Christ’s death. Well, for the assembly’s public talk “Human Plans Failing as God’s Purpose Succeeds,” the gymnasium was packed beyond capacity, with 12,125 in attendance. It certainly seemed that God’s purpose was succeeding as far as disciple-making in El Salvador was concerned.

FORMER POLITICIAN MAKES A CHANGE

Among the more than 1,000 who were baptized at the “Divine Victory” assembly in 1973 was Atilio García Prieto. He had been a member of President Osorio’s cabinet some 18 years before, at the same time that Baltasar Perla had served in Osorio’s government. When Baltasar became a Witness, Atilio had thought to himself: “This man must be insane.” Now he believes that he must have been the insane one.

After Atilio became an active servant of Jehovah, he conducted as many as 12 Bible studies. Now he serves as an elder in a San Salvador congregation. In 1975 he received the award as professional man of the year in El Salvador. In his acceptance speech he said that his desire had always been to construct a better world. But then, with the use of Bible references, he showed to all those present, including the president and his cabinet, that God’s kingdom alone could accomplish this.

ADJUSTMENT FOR DISTRICT ASSEMBLIES

Now that the National Gymnasium was too small, where could the annual district assembly be held? Since the gymnasium was such an ideal place for these gatherings, it was decided that the 1975 “Divine Sovereignty” District Assembly would have two separate gatherings at this same location, during different weeks. Congregations in San Salvador had their assembly one week, and those outside the capital had theirs during another week. How happy the brothers were to learn that Brother Knorr would be with them for these gatherings!

Little did those present realize that this would be the last time that they would have a visit from Brother Knorr. They thoroughly enjoyed his association, and drank in his fine spiritual counsel at the missionary meeting and at other times during his stay. Less than two years later, on June 8, 1977, he died of cancer.

For the assembly Brother Tremblay was asked to prepare an appropriate platform. With the aid of the brothers in the Ahuachapán congregation, where he was special pioneering at the time, he used cardboard and plenty of imagination to create a beautiful white palace as the platform scene. Above the palace was the throne and crown of the Great Sovereign. How fitting this was to represent the position of Jehovah God over all the universe! A combined audience of 15,025 enjoyed the program to the full.

Since the two gatherings had been such a success, the brothers arranged for three in 1976. So the 1976 “Sacred Service” District Assembly was planned for Santa Ana, San Miguel and San Salvador. This way people from all parts of the country would have an opportunity to receive fine spiritual food and association more conveniently. A combined attendance of 13,203 was achieved. Although this was a drop of nearly 2,000 from the previous assembly, it still represented more than double the number of publishers in the country, a peak of 6,010 publishers having been reached in 1976.

FURTHER BRANCH CONSTRUCTION

The increase of the organization required yet further expanding of the branch facilities. As noted earlier, back in 1970 a strip of land in front of the building had been purchased. For some time it provided space for a nice green lawn sprinkled with a few flowers, which enhanced the beauty of the branch building. However, during the visit of the Brooklyn headquarters representative Robert Wallen in 1975, the possibility of using this land to enlarge the facilities was considered.

In 1976 plans for this expansion were drawn up and approved. By using volunteer help, and with the cooperation of all, the addition was constructed at half the estimated cost. John Trayer and Vicente Valdarrama, a brother who had been serving where the need was greater in Ahuachapán, spent their full time on the project.

Thus, in 1977, the new addition was ready for use. What a joy it was to move the office out of its cramped quarters into a roomy, well-ventilated area! The literature supplies came out of the hallways, bedrooms and bathrooms and were neatly placed in the spacious warehouse. With this change, even the home seemed new.

In December 1977, at the “Joyful Workers” District Assembly, Milton Henschel of the Governing Body gave a talk dedicating the enlarged branch facilities. Once again this assembly was divided into two gatherings that were held at the National Gymnasium in San Salvador. This time the combined attendance was 13,615. Although this was below the peak attendance of two years before, many more persons were associating with Jehovah’s Witnesses throughout the country. This was shown by the fine Memorial attendance in March 1978 of 21,285.

A NEW ASSEMBLY HALL PROPOSED

Over the years it had been extremely difficult to find appropriate places for circuit assemblies. Some circuits had to have as many as five small assemblies due to a lack of places large enough to accommodate everyone. Especially during the rainy season, when it is necessary to have a place that is protected from the weather, was it difficult to find an assembly site. The schools now were often too small for these assemblies, and, besides, their facilities were not always the best. The following experience illustrates the type of problems that were encountered.

Once when the brothers assembled for an assembly program, the army band took their places in front of the platform and began playing the national anthem. Groups of schoolchildren gathered for a musical program that Saturday morning. It seems that one of the teachers, who was not favorable to the Witnesses using the school, had arranged for the army band to play for classes. After about an hour the band left and the children slowly made their way home. Then the assembly program was properly begun with a song to Jehovah’s praise followed by prayer. This is only one example of the trying times our brothers faced to provide these spiritual banquets every six months.

What could be done? With eight circuits operating, would it be reasonable or possible to build an assembly hall in El Salvador?

This was the matter that was taken up with Brother Henschel during his visit for the “Joyful Workers” assembly. Then the idea was presented to the Governing Body in written form. A search had already begun for property at a reasonable price. In time a brother from San Salvador offered a piece of land near Lake Ilopango that had its own water supply. It was quite large, and the price was reasonable. Many brothers made generous contributions to buy the land and get the project under way.

What was the response from the Governing Body of Jehovah’s Witnesses? Their questions were: Will the brothers in El Salvador support such a project? Will they be able to make the necessary payments to cover the loan asked for? The matter was then presented to the members of the Association, and then to the congregations by letter. The congregations responded with an energetic “Yes!” So it was decided to give this project full attention, and to look to Jehovah for his direction in the matter.

NEW SCHOOLS ORGANIZED

Following the “Joyful Workers” assembly in December 1977 plans were made for a new Kingdom Ministry School, as well as a special school for pioneers. Since 1962 a Kingdom Ministry School had been in operation. Periodically, brothers who had responsibilities in congregations were invited to attend. During 1978 all elders and ministerial servants in the country attended this new 15-hour course of instruction. The four-member branch committee, along with two other capable brothers, were the instructors. With three schools operating at the same time, within a month all were able to attend.

No sooner was this school finished than the school for pioneers began. By the middle of June 1977 all the pioneers in El Salvador that had been on the pioneer list for at least one year had the chance to receive this special 10-day course. The pioneers in El Salvador were indeed grateful to Jehovah for this fine provision made by Jehovah through his organization.

CHANGING SCENE IN EL SALVADOR

Over the years, El Salvador had begun to change its appearance and even its customs. For one thing, the population had grown from about 1,500,000 in 1945 to some 5,000,000 by 1980. In the capital especially, old adobe houses were replaced with modern, bright-colored cement-block houses. New developments began to sprout up everywhere. Jobs became more plentiful, and even wages began to climb. Many people started leaving rural areas to look for jobs in the cities.

In time San Salvador came to resemble, in many respects, a modern North American city. In the 1960’s, the hamburger was classified as strictly “gringo food,” being found in just a few places that catered to the tourists. By the late 1970’s, however, fast-food places like “McDonald’s” or “Hardee’s” were doing a thriving business, shoving out hamburgers and French fries to tourist and native alike. Recreation parks have sprung up in various parts of the city to compete for the business that was formerly confined to tourist spots like the tropical park called “Los Chorros,” and Lakes Coatepeque and Ilopango. A cable car was installed to take customers from the southeastern part of San Salvador up to the top of San Jacinto mountain. There one can seek entertainment in the amusement park, or simply enjoy the magnificent view of the city. There certainly was plenty to keep one entertained.

But one must have considerable money to enjoy these things, since prices have skyrocketed. For example, the typical pupusa, made of ground cornmeal formed into a round cake with a layer of cheese, meat or beans in between, increased in price to at least four or five times what it had been in the 1960’s. And to treat the family to the typical pupusa, fried banana and coffee now represents a large bite out of the average family budget.

Also, new highways and widened streets have taken the place of mesons and shacks that have served for many years to house thousands of poor people. With the construction of the new airport “El Salvador,” located some 22 miles (35 km) south of San Salvador, a new four-lane highway has been built to make the airport accessible to the people. Back in the early 1960’s cars were a luxury, enjoyed by a select few, but by the late 1970’s they swarmed like ants, zooming up and down the streets of the city. Only on the comparatively quiet roads outside the city was a driver able to find some relief.

The religious scene in the country also has changed. In the past Protestant groups were always in the minority and kept in the background by Catholicism. But in recent times the people in general have become disgusted with the clergy meddling in politics, and many are looking for something else. Thus many people have abandoned the Catholic Church in favor of the numerous evangelical groups that have sprouted up in recent years. But the fact is, neither Catholicism nor Protestantism has satisfied the people who sincerely want to learn the truth.

Little by little the religious fanaticism of the past is being replaced by a religious apathy that has only a vague resemblance to true Christianity. In an effort to stem its downward trend, Catholicism has begun to blend its religious practices with those of sectarian groups, in many places dropping the use of images. The changes, both religious and otherwise, have affected people’s lives. Especially since 1975 have a desire for pleasure and the disrespect for the laws of man and God begun to take their toll.

What has been the effect on the Christian congregation? The following observation from the El Salvador branch is significant:

“Even those who have been following a course of true Christianity have been affected. Some brothers have given up Christian privileges in the congregation because this interferes with other personal pursuits. Others have gone to other countries for the purpose of furthering their own financial position.

“Also, it has become increasingly difficult to interest young people in dedicating their lives to the full-time service of Jehovah. Secular work and study begin to squeeze out Kingdom service, and the time and energy that was formerly spent in service to Jehovah and others is now many times being detoured into satisfying one’s own personal desires. Truly these modern times are taking their toll on those who apparently did not have the truth in their hearts or who for lack of keeping awake had lost their faith and confidence in Jehovah’s promises.”

Of course, by far the majority of God’s people in El Salvador have maintained their spiritual strength. They have kept on with zeal in the preaching and disciple-making work, and they continue to enjoy grand fruitage from their labors.

CHANGE IN ASSEMBLY SITE

During 1978 a peak of 6,017 Kingdom proclaimers in El Salvador was reached. With such growth, it seemed that the usefulness of the National Gymnasium was now limited to circuit assemblies. A larger facility needed to be found. Improvements had recently been made on the National Stadium of Flor Blanca, located only a few blocks from the gymnasium. Thus, it became the site of the “Victorious Faith” International Assembly December 27 to 31, 1978.

Since most of the stadium is without covering, the program was held in the afternoons and evenings. The mornings were devoted to field service and programs for the visitors. These sometimes featured typical native dances. Although the number of foreign visitors was much less than for the previous international assembly in 1973, those who shared in field service Friday morning certainly provided a stimulus to the local brothers. Many here still talk about the fine time they had in service with their brothers and sisters from other countries.

Grant Suiter of the Governing Body was a principal speaker at this international assembly. Although he does not speak Spanish, the brothers felt encouraged by his presence and his words translated into Spanish. A peak attendance of 11,109 was reached for the assembly, and a total of 470 were baptized.

REVERSING A TREND

During the months just prior to the “Victorious Faith” assembly in December 1978, the number of Kingdom proclaimers had been decreasing. This was of concern to many of the brothers. But the international assembly provided just the encouragement needed. Thus, in January 1979, a new peak of 6,058 publishers was reached for the country. And a steady increase has been realized since then.

During 1979 a total of 22 circuit assemblies were held, with a combined attendance of 24,794. And by October the number of Kingdom publishers had leaped to 6,528. Then, in November, the brothers received further fine encouragement from the zone visit of Albert Schroeder of the Governing Body. The congregations were invited to a special talk by Brother Schroeder at the amphitheater of the International Fair Grounds in San Salvador. What a surprise it was to have an attendance of 7,127 on this beautiful cool evening under the starlit sky!

“LIVING HOPE” DISTRICT CONVENTION

About a month afterward, December 29 to January 1, the “Living Hope” convention served as a further stimulus to the brothers to remain firm in their determination to serve Jehovah. Again the assembly was held in the Flor Blanca Stadium in San Salvador. The enthusiastic spirit that the brothers had reflected during the year was evident as the assembly organization took form. The peak attendance of 11,939 surpassed by 830 the number that had come to the international assembly the year before.

Although there was turmoil in the country, inside the stadium all was peaceful. Yet the dangers outside were illustrated by what happened to the young brother who played the part of the fatherless boy in an evening drama. He had gone out for a brief walk with another brother. As he was returning to the stadium to put on his costume for the drama, he was approached by a man who pulled out a knife and asked for his possessions. Although the brother surrendered his watch, money and other possessions with no resistance whatsoever, he was stabbed in the back. He received some treatment in the first aid department at the assembly, and was told to seek medical attention right away. However, without saying anything to others, he quietly dressed for the drama and painfully carried out his part before the audience that was unaware of his injury.

Crime and violence had become a common thing here as political problems began to divide the country. Although even greater problems for the assembly were expected, everything came to a happy ending, and the brothers returned to their homes with little difficulty.

NEW ASSEMBLY HALL

A highlight of the “Living Hope” convention occurred when it was announced that the following series of circuit assemblies would be held principally in the new assembly hall under construction by Lake Ilopango. From the time the hall was proposed back in 1977, many brothers had dedicated time and effort free of charge to get the project under way. As in all undertakings by imperfect people, problems were faced, but these were overcome.

Entire congregations had spent a Sunday now and then to help with the construction. The brothers contributed freely to buy construction materials and to pay the workers who were doing the tasks that the brothers could not handle. Even people who are not Jehovah’s Witnesses showed a willingness to give a hand. So, with good reason, the stadium resounded with applause at the announcement that there were plans to use the assembly hall within a few months.

With smiling faces, busload after busload of brothers and sisters arrived for the first circuit assembly at the hall on March 1, 1980. There is still much to be done to finish the construction, but, judging from the cooperation thus far and the evidence of Jehovah’s spirit backing up the work, there is every reason to believe that the project soon will be completed to Jehovah’s praise.

POLITICAL UPHEAVAL

During the latter part of 1979, political unrest in El Salvador threatened to erupt into full-scale civil war, similar to the recent conflict in Nicaragua that claimed some 30,000 lives. In October the president of El Salvador, General Carlos Humberto Romero, was forcibly ousted from office. He was replaced by a five-man junta.

Hopes were high that this development would put an end to the episodes of violence that had claimed hundreds of lives in the country during the year. Yet violence was only escalated. Churches, embassies, government and other buildings were seized by revolutionary groups, and people were held hostage. Often innocent people, including some of our brothers and sisters, fell into the hands of unprincipled individuals.

For example, one young sister found herself a hostage along with a group of only men. She showed great courage in using the opportunity to give a witness to both those who had taken control of the office building where she had been working and those who were fellow hostages. After a few days they were released unharmed. Fellow hostages mentioned that the prayers and spiritual strength of this young girl helped them to endure the experience. What a fine example of courage this sister gave for others to imitate!

Assassination and bombing have become a daily occurrence. Businessmen, due to fear, have been leaving the country in droves. “Capable leaders from both the public and private sectors are leaving daily,” reported Douglas Bernard, an American businessman. “They stand in line outside the U.S. Embassy starting at 4 a.m. waiting for visas. The better organized businessmen go out in groups, scouting new territory in Paraguay, Ecuador or Bolivia. They have given up on El Salvador.”

Thus businesses and factories are closing down, and people are seeking any way possible to change the local currency into money that can be transferred to other countries. As this happens, jobs become scarce and, at the same time, prices begin to skyrocket. This has resulted in an atmosphere of fear and crime.

Places like McDonald’s have felt the violence. A group ordered all the people out of one of these establishments, splashed gasoline around and burned it to the ground. Banks have been bombed, supermarkets bombed and burned, buses burned, and individuals shot down in their places of business, in their homes and on the streets.

Government and police forces have had their hands full trying to keep extremist groups from gaining control. This leaves the common person with no protection whatsoever from those who take the law into their own hands. Law and order have disappeared from El Salvador. For example, many people refuse to stop for red traffic lights. The reason is that it is common for people to be robbed while they are sitting in their cars waiting for the light to change, or even worse, have their cars taken from them by force.

Small stores and businesses are many times told to “give us your money or we’ll burn your place down.” People are learning to leave their watches, valuable papers and most of their money at home when they have to walk the streets. It is not uncommon for a thief to pull out a knife in a bus and tell you, in full view of all the other people, to turn over all your money to him.

BROTHERS KILLED

For some time after the junta took power in October 1979 conditions seemed to turn for the worse. Two of our brothers, Jorge and Eugenio Vasquez, ministerial servants in the San Juan Opico congregation, decided to pick coffee in order to have enough money to attend the upcoming “Living Hope” District Convention in December. They had been working on this particular hacienda for about a week when they began to notice that many of the pickers didn’t seem too interested in picking coffee. They spent most of their time talking about social injustices and the need for a change. Our brothers kept to themselves, minding their business of picking coffee.

On Monday, December 17, 1979, many of the workers were surprised by the announcement that they would not be allowed to pick coffee. That day the hacienda was taken over by farmers backed by a group of guerrilla fighters. The 1,500 coffee pickers were forcibly detained from working in the fields and made to dig trenches. The following morning armed forces arrived with soldiers and tanks, and the rebel forces were asked to surrender. When the request was answered by gunfire, the armed forces opened fire.

The battle lasted two and a half hours, turning the hacienda into a place of devastation. Bodies of young and old were scattered about like leaves on the ground. Our two brothers were among the dead. Those who survived later told how they refused to take up arms and had insisted on complete neutrality. For this they were labeled cowards and sent into the zone where the action was the heaviest.

The husbands, wives and friends of the victims had no idea of what had happened to their loved ones. Rumors began to circulate that they were all dumped into a common grave. Ten days later 26 bodies were found under a mound of earth. They were unrecognizable. After hours of searching, the bodies of Jorge and Eugenio were found.

Tragically, the wives of these two brothers, now without the help and protection of the family head, became the victims of shameless thieves seeking to deprive them of their crops. However, the congregation came to their aid. When the district convention began the brothers of this congregation, including the two widowed sisters, were in attendance.

In another instance, in March 1980, an elder in one of the San Salvador congregations, who worked as an agronomist in a sugar-cane processing plant, failed to arrive home at his usual time. It was the night for the Theocratic School and service meeting and he always made a special effort to be on time Friday nights. But he didn’t make it home that night nor for any night during the following week. The family and his Christian brothers searched high and low for some trace of his whereabouts, but it was all in vain. A week later his lifeless body was found along with the body of a fellow worker.

Why our brother was ruthlessly killed remains a mystery. It was well known that he did not mix in the political affairs of the country. What a blessing it is to have a sure hope in the resurrection, and to know that Jehovah promises to restore life to such faithful servants!

FAILURE TO STEM VIOLENCE

In March 1980 the government declared a state of emergency, and restricted certain rights. As a result, the taking over of public buildings seems to have come to an end. The same can be said for demonstration marches by subversive groups, which were a threat to all businesses in their line of march. Yet the state of emergency has not stopped the violence in the hearts of people, which is still reflected by their acts under cover of darkness or masks.

On March 24, 1980, the Catholic archbishop, Oscar Arnulfo Romero & Galdámez, was assassinated as he went about his religious duties of performing Mass. This set off a further explosion of violence and fear. That evening various buildings all over the republic were shaken by bomb blasts. One of our brothers, in going about his door-to-door activities, fell into the hands of a group of subversives and was threatened with death if he did not agree to join the group. He remained firm and, after being badly treated, was finally released.

On March 30 thousands of people thronged the park in front of the cathedral in San Salvador for the funeral of the Catholic archbishop. Suddenly, as the pope’s special representative for the occasion was speaking to the crowd, the burning of cars and shootings turned the area into a scene of panic. Catholic trampled Catholic in an effort to reach a place of safety. The dead and injured give evidence of the seriousness of the political problems facing the country of El Salvador, where the sacrifice of lives means nothing where political objectives are involved.

HOW JEHOVAH’S PEOPLE ARE FARING

Amid all this turmoil Jehovah’s people in El Salvador have been pressing on, not letting it interfere with their attending assemblies, congregational meetings or getting out in field service. If anything, they are putting forth even greater efforts in their service to God. As one of the missionaries wrote to a member of the Brooklyn Bethel family in May 1980:

“All of us are getting used to hearing the shooting and bombings, and we do not get very excited about it anymore. It always sounds worse in the papers than it actually is. Of course many brothers call up to see if the meetings are canceled or not, but we always have them.”

Thus, the day after the violence at the archbishop’s funeral, Jehovah’s people and their friends turned out in record numbers for the Memorial. While the people in general were fearfully staying off the streets, Monday, March 31, after sundown 27,319 persons courageously ventured out to the meeting. This was over 5,000 more persons than had ever attended a Memorial celebration in El Salvador before!

Also, the brothers are showing real zeal in comforting the distressed people here with the only true message of hope, God’s kingdom. In January 1980 a new peak of 6,655 publishers was reached. This was followed by 6,690 in February, 6,721 in March, and 7,008 in April and over 8,000 Bible studies are being conducted monthly with persons of interest. The prospects for theocratic growth appear brighter and brighter, as those of the world grow ever dimmer.

Thousands have had a part in the 35 years of theocratic history in El Salvador, and in that time many persons have come and gone. Without a doubt changes will continue as Jehovah’s people keep on in his service. Full confidence is placed in Jehovah who promises at Romans 8:28 that he makes all his works cooperate together for the good of those who love him. Through his prophet Isaiah, Jehovah promised: “The little one himself will become a thousand, and the small one a mighty nation. I myself, Jehovah, shall speed it up in its own time.”​—Isa. 60:22.

The two Witnesses that came to El Salvador on February 24, 1945, have truly become thousands as the good news is being extensively declared in El Salvador by the 7,156 Kingdom proclaimers reporting in May 1980. All those who have had the privilege of participating in this work are deeply grateful to Jehovah, and they look to him for further blessings as theocratic history is made in the future.

[Map on page 37]

(For fully formatted text, see publication)

El Salvador

GUATEMALA

HONDURAS

PACIFIC OCEAN

Metapán

Texistepeque

Santa Ana

Chalchuapa

San Jacinto

Tejutepeque

Ahuachapán

Quezaltepeque

Ilobasco

Juayua

Armenia

Soyapango

Apopa

Cojutepeque

Sonsonate

SAN SALVADOR

San Sebastián

Santo Domingo

San Ramón

Acajutla

San Marcos

Lake Ilopango

Santiago Texacuangos

San Juan Talpa

Berlín

Santiago de María

San Miguel

Usulután

La Unión

[Picture on page 36]

Stone relics said to date back to 2000 B.C.E. bearing cross symbols, dug up in El Salvador

[Picture on page 40]

Antonio Molina Choto, 69 years old; the first Salvadoran to become a dedicated, baptized Witness

[Picture on page 44]

Salvadoran spider, showing size in comparison to foot rule and man’s hand

[Picture on page 47]

Charles Beedle, a Gilead graduate who took a lead in the Kingdom work in El Salvador for many years

[Picture on page 48]

Julia Clogston (left) and Charlotte Bowin Schroeder, Gilead graduates assigned to San Salvador; now both serving at Brooklyn Bethel

[Picture on page 66]

Baltasar Perla, a government official who became a Witness. His son, Baltasar, Jr., now serves at Brooklyn Bethel

[Picture on page 71]

Abraham Peña, an aged family head, with two of his sons. He was an encouragement to his large family to pursue true worship

[Picture on page 79]

Raúl Morales, who as a youth showed outstanding appreciation for spiritual things, later enjoyed many privileges of service

[Picture on page 84]

Lugarda Peña, who survived her husband Abraham, remained faithful until her own death at age 97

[Picture on page 92]

The archbishop in private meeting with members of the government, including Rubén Rosales (fifth from right) who is now one of Jehovah’s Witnesses

[Picture on page 101]

San Salvador’s National Gymnasium, used often for Witness assemblies

[Picture on page 104]

San Salvador earthquake scene​—May 1965

[Picture on page 115]

Domenick Piccone became branch servant in 1969 and now serves as branch coordinator

[Picture on page 127]

Branch building in San Salvador with its new addition in front

[Picture on page 136]

New assembly hall built near Lake Ilopango. First assembly held here in March 1980

Ivory Coast

Ivory Coast is one of the countries that once was part of a federation of eight territories in West Africa. From 1895 to 1958 France administered these territories. The federation was called French West Africa.

It was back in the late 1400’s that the Ivory Coast received its name from the trade in elephant tusk ivory. Now, due to widespread hunting, the elephant is confined largely to the forested areas of the southwest. The days of finding specimens with 220-pound (100-kg) tusks are gone. Tusks of elephants found today may weight a maximum of about 40 to 50 pounds (18 to 23 kg).

The Ivory Coast became a French colony in the 1890’s. Then, in 1960, it became an independent country. Félix Houphouët-Boigny, who led the independence movement of French territories in western Africa, was elected president in 1960. He has been reelected every five years since then, and so still heads the government.

The country lies on the bulge of West Africa, bounded on the west by Liberia and Guinea, and on the east by Ghana. To the north are the landlocked countries of Upper Volta and Mali. Ivory Coast has about 125,000 square miles (322,000 km²) of land area, some 15 times as large as El Salvador in area. It is roughly the size of the state of New Mexico in the United States.

The Ivory Coast is typical of most people’s notion of the tropics. The climate along the coast is hot and humid. Lush forests, which make up almost half of the total land area, spread north, gradually giving way to the central bushy savanna, and finally to the arid scrub savanna. The effects of the recent droughts have stretched down somewhat from the Sahara Desert, but have hardly affected the tropical rain forests farther south.

Some 7,500,000 people live in the Ivory Coast, about half of whom are under 20 years old. More than a million live in the beautiful capital city of Abidjan, which was a relatively small town of about 20,000 in 1945. As one goes up country from this coastal capital, one can see the people working in the large plantations of bananas, coffee, cocoa and pineapple. Toward the cities of Gagnoa and Daloa in the west, the people might be seen in the rice fields, or up in the logging camps, felling huge mahogany trees.

The population of the Ivory Coast is made up of many different tribal groups; over 60 of them inhabited the country by the end of the last century. Intermingling was rare, each group keeping its distance from the other and making a living by subsistence farming. The Ashanti tribes to the east come from Ghana; the Bete come from the western forests that stretch into Liberia; the tall desert people from Mali and Upper Volta, and the Dan people from the mountains of Guinea. Along the coast, next to the lagoons fringed with sand and coconut palms, live the Ebries, whose main economic activity is lagoon fishing.

Although French is the official language, the country abounds with languages and dialects. The people speak some 70 indigenous languages of five major linguistic groups. There has been little or no attempt to put most of these into written form. The great commercial language is Dyula, spoken by the Moslem traders but used by many other persons for the purpose of commerce. Thus many in the Ivory Coast speak three languages: their own native dialect, French, and Dyula.

THE RELIGION OF THE PEOPLE

When the Ivory Coast became a French colony in the 1890’s, Catholic missionaries established a foothold here. From their coastal base, they gradually spread their teachings, hand in glove with the colonizing power. Many groups, especially of the coastal area, accepted Catholicism, yet they also held to their tribal religion based on animism. This is the belief that inanimate objects, such as rivers, lakes and lagoons, have souls or are inhabited by spirits worthy of reverence.

In the northern region, the Moslem religion gained influence with the influx of the Sudanic tribes that had already converted to Islam. However, Islam’s spread was met with great resistance, and only rarely did the animists accept this new religion of “submission.” Even when they did, they also held to their animist beliefs.

In recent times Protestant sects have also made some headway. From 1913 to 1936 a new religion known as Harrism spread rapidly in the Ivory Coast. It is named after its founder, William Wade Harris, a Liberian preacher. His teachings were based on the Hebrew Scriptures, with a strong local flavor that linked up singing, dancing and pagan rites with certain Scriptural ideas.

Other sects and groups of Protestantism sprang up as more religious liberty was granted when the country took the road to independence. It was into this religious atmosphere, where an estimated 60 percent of the population was animist, 25 percent Moslem and 15 percent professed Christian, that the light of true Christianity began to shine in the Ivory Coast a little over 30 years ago.

FIRST RECORDED FIELD SERVICE

When William C. Walden and George L. Covert graduated from Gilead in February 1948, they were assigned to Ivory Coast. Due to difficulties in obtaining visas, the Society finally sent them to the Gold Coast (now Ghana) to try to gain entry into Ivory Coast from there.

In March 1949 Alfred G. Baker, then the branch overseer of the Gold Coast, and William Walden went to Abidjan. There they contacted the French governor, and made application for visas. The governor seemed impressed with the documentation presented, but no immediate action was taken. During their four-day stay in Abidjan the brothers did the first recorded field service in the Ivory Coast.

Time dragged by​—a whole year—​yet, despite repeated correspondence about the matter, no permission was granted for the entry of missionaries. Finally, the Gold Coast branch sent Alfred Elias Shooter to the Ivory Coast as a regular pioneer. Alfred had been a pioneer in Accra, the capital of the Gold Coast.

REGULAR PREACHING STARTS

Brother Shooter’s first field service report from Abidjan was received in Accra in June 1950. He had spent 100 hours preaching the good news, made 20 return visits, and started two home Bible studies. The following month he revived an inactive publisher who had moved to Abidjan from Accra. By August Alfred was conducting 12 Bible studies.

Brother Shooter took a part-time job in order to pay the rent for a small room by the lagoon in Treichville, a section of Abidjan. In December 1950 he attended a national assembly in the Gold Coast, where Brother Baker was able to discuss the work in Ivory Coast with him. Alfred’s wife joined him as a regular pioneer in Abidjan in February 1951. Between them, they were able to do much to help the people of the Ivory Coast learn Bible truths. Seventeen attended the Memorial in Abidjan in March 1951, and 25 came to a special public talk. A book study group was started, with a regular attendance of 12.

GILEAD GRADUATES ENTER

In July 1951 Gabriel and Florence Paterson, graduates of Gilead’s 16th class, gained entry to the Ivory Coast, taking up residence with the Shooters. Gabriel, a native of the Gold Coast, years before had studied with Alfred Shooter, helping him to a knowledge of the truth. Their meeting in a foreign assignment was a reunion of great joy.

Times were not easy for these young couples. Gabriel describes their accommodations:

“On our arrival in Abidjan Alfred had made an extension of their one room with cardboard. He roofed it with tarred paper for a sleeping place for Florence and me. Under this paper-roofed shelter, we prepared our meals and ate together. When it rained we awoke as the water dripped in. We took shelter in a corner, making an effort not to disturb our hosts.”

THE FIRST DISCIPLE

Such trying conditions did not discourage the pioneers. Soon their activity bore real fruitage. Robert Markin, a man from the Gold Coast, saw a copy of “Let God Be True” in the office of a friend. He asked if he could borrow the book. Rather than part with it, his friend told him where the Patersons and Shooters lived.

Robert immediately made his way down to the little house beside the lagoon. He obtained the book, and Brother Paterson went with him to his home where they studied for two hours. The next morning Gabriel invited Robert to go in field service to see how the witnessing work was accomplished. Thus, the first resident of Ivory Coast was on the road to becoming a witness of Jehovah. Robert Markin was baptized, along with two others, in Abidjan’s Gbobo lagoon in April 1952.

Meetings were soon held in Robert’s home. To start with they were generally conducted in English, with translations into French, the Ghanian languages of Ewe and Twi, or one of the local languages, depending on who was present. At first the sole members of this budding group were foreigners to Ivory Coast, people from the Gold Coast, French Togoland and Dahomey. It was not until 1954 that some local Ivory Coast people were baptized.

LEGAL ACTION AGAINST BROTHERS

In the summer of 1952, after five persons had joined the pioneers in the preaching work, the brothers were reported to the police. Brother Paterson was arrested and his house was searched. It should be noted that none of the Society’s literature had received government approval. The European police superintendent said that he was sorry to have to take action, but since his men had found over 100 volumes of forbidden literature he would be forced to report the matter to the authorities. However, he took some of the books to read himself, and became a good friend of Brother Paterson.

The brothers were called to trial at the nearby town of Grand Bassam, where the Supreme Court then was. They were charged with being in possession of forbidden literature and not having an “Alien’s Pass Card.”

Alfred Baker, branch servant of the Gold Coast, came over to Ivory Coast and engaged a lawyer for the brothers. The lawyer argued the case very convincingly, but the Court upheld the government ruling: “No preaching or literature of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Ivory Coast.” Brothers Paterson and Shooter were convicted and given suspended prison sentences ranging from one to six months. In addition, a fine of 5,000 francs was imposed.

A few months later the brothers were working in the service in Grand Bassam. There in the marketplace, they found the Society’s confiscated publications on sale! The government had apparently been so little concerned about the matter that they had sold the seized literature to a commercial salesman. The brothers promptly bought back many of their own books! This was certainly a blessing in view of the difficulty in getting literature into the country.

HELP FROM GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS

At the same time, the police and immigration authorities tried to have the pioneers deported on the grounds that they had no visas. This harassment continued through 1952 and into 1953. In the process of seeking to acquire permanent visas, the brothers visited numerous government offices. They contacted some influential members of the government, including Félix Houphouët-Boigny and Ouezzin Coulibaly.

Mr. Houphouët-Boigny, who later became president of the Ivory Coast, was then the president of the Democratic African Republic, president of the territorial parliament of Ivory Coast, as well as member of parliament to the Government at Palais Bourbon, Paris, France. Brother Paterson explained his problems to this prominent official, who listened sympathetically. Mr. Houphouët-Boigny then promised that he would see to it that the brothers stayed in the country. “The truth,” he remarked, “has no barrier whatsoever. It is like a mighty river; dam it and it will overflow the dam.” He referred them to his deputy, Ouezzin Coulibaly, who later became very friendly with Brother Paterson.

The Alien’s Pass Card needed to be issued in Dakar, Senegal, the seat of government for French West Africa. Mr. Coulibaly interceded, helping Brother Paterson obtain one easily. He also arranged to have Brother Paterson’s visa extended, speaking in his behalf to the Head of National Security. This official explained that a Catholic priest and a Methodist minister had come to see him to tell him that what Jehovah’s Witnesses were preaching was not good for the people of Ivory Coast. But what was Mr. Coulibaly’s view? He said: “I represent the people of this country. We are the people, and we like Jehovah’s Witnesses and so we want them to stay here in this country.”

LAYING A FINE FOUNDATION

Following the intercession of Mr. Coulibaly the brothers had a measure of peace to continue with their God-given assignment. In 1953 a peak of 17 Kingdom publishers was reached. In March, 85 attended the Memorial.

Brother Paterson recommended to the Society: “It is possible to establish a congregation here because some of the publishers are now capable of serving as servants.” Thus, on April 1, 1954, the first congregation was formed in Treichville, Abidjan.

The brothers would rent a small truck to travel to the outlying areas to preach, singing Kingdom songs as they went. After preaching in the morning, they had a little picnic and then held a public talk in a school hall or in the courtyard of an interested person. Afterward, they would pile into the truck, tired but happy, to return home, still singing! In 1954 there was an average of 19 publishers each month in the field service.

CHURCH PILLARS BECOME WITNESSES

Among the highlights of 1955 was the stand for the truth taken by two pillars in the local church. Interestingly, one of them, Samuel Denoo, was the friend in whose office Robert Markin had seen a copy of “Let God Be True.” And it was Samuel that directed Robert to Brother Paterson, resulting in Robert becoming the first disciple in the Ivory Coast.

Well, Samuel Denoo was one of the executive members of the local Methodist Church. He and the president of the Bible class group, Emmanuel Kwaku Glago, invited Brother Paterson to speak to the church group. His talk was well received and Bible studies were started with many of the group, including Mr. Denoo and Mr. Glago.

These two local pillars of the church soon came along in the truth, but not without opposition. They were summoned by the Methodist Church pastors to explain why they had abandoned their former church and joined Jehovah’s Witnesses. Samuel Denoo explained:

“You know very well that I had more than one wife. Yet you appointed me one of the advisers of the church and a member of the executive committee. Jehovah’s Witnesses would not baptize me until I had brought my life into harmony with the Scriptures. By the help of Jehovah’s Witnesses I have come to know who Jehovah is and how to worship him.”

Emmanuel Glago emphasized basic differences between the Methodist Church and Jehovah’s Witnesses. “In your church the layman worships and obeys the clergy rather than God,” he said. “Jehovah’s Witnesses, who have no clergy-laity distinctions, worship and obey Jehovah God by preaching and teaching the good news of the Kingdom as His servants.”

One of the clergy responded that the two of them could come back and they would be allowed to preach in church. But Emmanuel answered: “What am I going to preach? Is it not the same old stuff​—immortality of the human soul, a fiery hell after death, the ‘mysterious’ Trinity, and so forth? No, I do not want it. I have come to the conclusion from the teachings of Jehovah’s Witnesses that these doctrines of the Church are false and drawn from paganism.”

The discussion continued for more than two hours, but the pastors left without having regained their members. Samuel Denoo soon thereafter volunteered his home as a Kingdom Hall. In time it became the home for most of the missionaries who were assigned to Ivory Coast.

THE 1955 ASSEMBLY IN GOLD COAST

The major highlight of 1955 was undoubtedly the assembly held in Accra, Gold Coast, November 17 to 20. Twenty-five from Ivory Coast attended, traveling alternately by small truck and boat. At the border Brother Paterson got out of the boat, told the border officials that these were “New World” citizens on their way to attend a convention of “fellow citizens” in Accra. The boat was allowed to pass with none of the brothers being disturbed.

Eventually the group arrived in Accra. At the assembly grounds what a marvel met their eyes! They had scarcely seen 100 persons together for a Christian meeting. But here were 7,000 in attendance at the first session, with 14,331 present for the public meeting! The Shooters, who had opened up the work in the Ivory Coast, now stayed in the Gold Coast. However, the rest of the brothers from the Ivory Coast returned with new vigor to carry on the preaching work.

STARTING THE WORK IN BOUAKÉ

Up until 1955 witnessing had been limited to Abidjan and its outlying areas. Although some had preached to their relatives in other places, nobody was contacting these persons regularly. However, after the Accra assembly, Robert Markin was assigned by his employers to Bouaké, the second largest town in Ivory Coast.

At first Robert was concerned as to how he would get on, being isolated from his brothers. But Brother Paterson told him: “When you get up there, don’t get a small house, get a big one. Then you will be able to hold meetings in it for all the interested persons that will come along.”

On arrival in Bouaké, Robert found that his nephew had already found him a house, a small one. So, faithful to instructions from Brother Paterson, Robert turned it down and found another large enough to hold the future congregation. Very soon while in the preaching work he met a family of Moslems. Twenty of them started coming along for discussions. In a short time quite a few in the town were showing interest. For the whole country, there was an average of 53 sharing in the Kingdom preaching in 1956.

TRAVELING OVERSEERS VISIT

In October 1957 visits by a circuit overseer were initiated. William T. Darko from the Gold Coast (that year its name was changed to Ghana) served the congregation in Abidjan and the small group of isolated publishers in Bouaké. At this time there were also isolated publishers in Daloa, Dimbokro, Grand Bassam and in Koumassi, an outlying suburb of Abidjan. In December 1957 Brother Paterson was appointed the circuit overseer. The following year the group at Bouaké was reporting 16 publishers.

SPECIAL PIONEER GOES TO BOUAKÉ

Daniel Keboh, a Nigerian special pioneer who was living in Ghana, came to Bouaké in September 1958 to serve. He arrived after two days of traveling by intertown lorries, covered with red dust, tired, but happy to have found his brothers. The following day, accompanied by one of the local brothers, he went to the police station to register his presence in the town.

The police promptly confiscated Daniel’s literature and detained the two of them for some hours. The brothers were asked many questions about their activities and, three months later, they were given a summons to appear in court. The judge fined them 2,500 francs each.

The African subordinate officers, however, were sympathetic, telling the brothers not to pay the fine. These men said that if they were sent to collect the fine they would say that they had been unable to contact the brothers. This experience fairly well illustrates the official attitude toward Jehovah’s Witnesses at the time. Despite what had occurred, Daniel was not discouraged, and he started witnessing in Bouaké.

FOREIGNERS FORCED TO LEAVE

In 1958 there were still very few local persons who had accepted the truth in the Ivory Coast. The majority of brothers were originally from Togo and Dahomey (now called Benin), and so often our religion was referred to as Dahomean. One brother said that people would often mistake him for a Dahomean simply because he was a Witness.

Then, in 1958, trouble centering around the foreigners living in the Ivory Coast broke out. There were riots, and much suffering. The situation deteriorated to the point that the government could no longer guarantee the safety of Togolese or Dahomean citizens living in the Ivory Coast. Thus, these were required to return to their home countries.

None of the brothers were killed in the riots, but their lives were endangered, as were the lives of other foreigners. So, in obedience to the government decree, many brothers also left the country. As a result, the Ivory Coast lost about 25 Kingdom publishers, the fruit of two years’ labor. Since many of these were brothers who were taking the lead in the congregation, the loss was very much felt.

The question now was, would the local brothers stand on their own? The answer was, of course, Yes! Brother Paterson started immediately to train them to shoulder responsibilities in the Abidjan congregation so that they would be able to look after things when he was away visiting isolated publishers. The preaching activity continued and, in time, new disciples began to replace those who left as a result of the riots. However, the average number of publishers dropped from 60 in 1958 to 46 in 1959 due to the departures.

HE HELPED THE WORK GROW

About this time Blaise Bley, who worked at the airport in Abidjan, received a copy of the French Watchtower. Liking what he read, he wrote for further information. Finally, Brother Paterson received his address and contacted him. A Bible study was started, and in March 1959 Blaise was among the 20 delegates from Ivory Coast who journeyed to Kumasi, Ghana, to attend the Divine Will assembly. What a thrill it was for him to be in the crowd of 13,754 persons who received counsel and encouragement from God’s Word!

Since Blaise lived in the Abidjan suburb of Port-Bouët, about 6 miles (10 km) from where the meetings were held, it was difficult for him to attend three times a week. So Brother Bley gathered together other interested persons living in his area and arranged regular meetings for them there. Thus the nucleus of the Port-Bouët congregation was formed.

In June 1959 the first circuit assembly was held in the Ivory Coast with an attendance of 62. Six months later another assembly was held in Abidjan. On this occasion 153 persons enjoyed seeing for the first time the Society’s film about the Divine Will assemblies.

STEADY PROGRESS

Daniel Keboh, the special pioneer at Bouaké, was transferred to the town of Gagnoa in the west of the country. He was joined there by another special pioneer from Ghana, Abraham Amponsah. It was not long before a small group was flourishing. The brothers were visited by the district overseer from Ghana, Ernest Funk, who showed one of the Society’s films to a crowd of several hundred persons there. A Moslem chief in Gagnoa kindly loaned his sound equipment for the showing, and even sent one of his men over to operate the equipment.

The scattered suburbs of Abidjan were receiving a witness too. Besides the group meeting in Port-Bouët, another began operating in the Koumassi area of town. The town of Grand Bassam, about 25 miles (40 km) down the coast from Abidjan, was also receiving a witness. Today, a congregation of about 30 publishers thrives there.

These different groups received help from special pioneers who came in from Ghana: George Kwakye to Koumassi and Jacob Hackman to Grand Bassam. David Adu-Manuh was assigned to take over from Brother Paterson as circuit overseer, since the Patersons were reassigned to Ghana. Thus the 1961 service year ended with a fine peak of 121 Kingdom publishers.

AN EVENTFUL JOURNEY

The year 1962 started well with a delegation from Ivory Coast attending the district assembly in Accra, Ghana. The group traveled along the coast, crossing the lagoons at the border, and then used the intertown lorry service. One takes a certain risk when using this form of transport, since the drivers frequently have a slightly fatalistic attitude toward their work. “If it is God’s will that we get from here to there, nothing can stop us,” they say, and drive accordingly! Thus, accidents are frequent, and alas, this trip in the lorry proved to be no exception.

On the Ghana side of the border, near Takaoradi, the lorry left the road and overturned. One brother who was fast asleep was thrown completely clear of the lorry into a clump of reeds. After a few minutes of anxious searching the brothers found him there, unharmed! None of the brothers were seriously hurt, although several of the other passengers sustained severe injuries. After treatment at a hospital for minor cuts, and an overnight stay with local brothers, the delegation continued to the assembly the following day, and enjoyed it to the full!

TROUBLE IN BOUAKÉ

At a circuit assembly in Bouaké in 1962 an unfortunate incident occurred that adversely affected the growth of the Kingdom preaching for a number of years. The first night 182 persons were in attendance. Later during the assembly a disfellowshiped person came and caused a disturbance. While being restrained physically, he suddenly slumped to the ground and appeared to go into an epileptic fit. At this moment the police, who had been called, arrived. They supervised his removal to the hospital, where he died.

It should be noted that people here often do not accept death as due simply to natural causes. Even death from old age may be blamed on witchcraft or poisoning. Thus, in this case, the fact that this man was known to be ill and had been warned by his doctor not to get excited or angry did not weigh at all with his relatives. They firmly believed that he had been murdered, even though the hospital announced he had died of a heart attack.

Due to the accusations made, eventually nine brothers were imprisoned. Five of them were released a few days later, but the remaining four were formally charged with murder. After spending four months in jail, three more were released; the autopsies conclusively established their innocence. The remaining brother was held for some time longer for his own safety, it was said, since relatives of the dead man were seeking vengeance.

While in jail the brothers gave a fearless testimony. The local Seventh-day Adventists stopped visiting the prison when confronted with the situation of having to answer the brothers’ questions in front of all the prisoners. The brothers were permitted to give public lectures in prison, and before their release as many as 30 persons were attending them. Other regular meetings also were held, and two of the prisoners began to take a stand for the truth.

The brothers were finally completely exonerated, but the incident had far-reaching effects. The group at Gagnoa, composed chiefly of the dead man’s relatives, ceased to exist after a short while. And the congregation in Bouaké was also disbanded, since for a long time afterward it was very dangerous for the brothers to be seen in town.

MORE HELP ASSIGNED

In September 1962, Brother and Sister Simmons, missionaries expelled from Haiti, arrived in the Ivory Coast. The following month an assembly was held in Abidjan with a peak attendance of 108, the smaller attendance reflecting the recent troubles. The branch servant of Ghana, Herbert Jennings, was present. He felt that more missionaries would be a stabilizing influence in the country. Thus Brother and Sister Enevoldsen of Gilead’s 37th class were assigned here, arriving in Abidjan in January 1963. Some months later, Cosmas Klévor, a special pioneer, was sent from Ghana.

On arrival Brother Klévor was surprised to be received with a great deal of suspicion by the brothers, and wondered why. But then the brothers’ faces lighted up when Cosmas named the missionary brothers that he had come to find. They explained that just a few minutes before they had spoken with an impostor, a man claiming to be a Witness from a foreign country. The brothers feared that Cosmas was trying the same trick!

MISSIONARY ACCOMMODATIONS

In January 1964 the missionaries moved from the apartment where they had been staying to Samuel Denoo’s house. The Kingdom Hall already was located in his large home on the main street in Treichville. In time as many as 15 missionaries were accommodated here. The place had distinct advantages over the previous location, although it had its drawbacks as well.

Not the least of the disadvantages was the fact that the house stood right at a crossroads, next to traffic lights, and the sound of the traffic was very disturbing. In addition, a man and his four wives lived in the compound next door, and almost every morning the missionaries awoke at dawn to the screams of a younger wife being beaten by a senior one. In later years, when that building was demolished and a new one went up in its place, everybody breathed a sigh of relief. But then it was discovered that the new building housed a nightclub, and screams from it often were even more unbearable!

ASSEMBLIES IN 1964

The year got off to a good start with a circuit assembly in the Koumassi section of Abidjan attended by 152. Abidjan’s second congregation was formed here during 1964. George Kwakye gave one of the assembly talks on the value of courage. He was just quoting Jesus’ words about not fearing those who can kill the body but not the soul, when a snake appeared on the platform. Alarmed by the frightened gestures of the brothers in the front row, George fled to the back of the auditorium. After the snake had been disposed of by other brothers, George reappeared, somewhat sheepishly, to take up his talk where he left off!

Shortly afterward, in March, a district assembly was arranged in Abidjan at the Cultural Center in Treichville. Upon complaints that an illegal gathering was being held, the police broke up the assembly. They took to the station several of the brothers who had been on the program, telling them that they were not allowed to hold public assemblies since the work of Jehovah’s Witnesses was not recognized in the Ivory Coast. However, the assembly was successfully continued in the Kingdom Hall in Treichville. During 1964 a peak of 143 publishers was reached, the highest yet obtained in the country.

SEEKING LEGAL RECOGNITION

The brothers decided to inquire about the possibility of registering the activities of the Watchtower Society. Since the Ivory Coast was now an independent African country, it was felt that efforts might meet with more success than formerly. So a letter from the Watch Tower Society’s president was sent to the president of the Ivory Coast on September 14, 1964, requesting legal recognition of the work.

In the meantime the preaching work continued to be carried on. In fact, in May 1965 another circuit assembly was held, this time in Grand Bassam, with the fine attendance of 200 at the public talk. But then, on June 3, 1965, notice was published that the government had refused permission to Jehovah’s Witnesses to carry on their activities in the Ivory Coast.

Did this actually change anything? Not to a great extent, at least not at first. Even before this decree was issued the work of Jehovah’s Witnesses had not been recognized in Ivory Coast. Yet the missionaries had not been asked to leave the country, nor had meetings been prohibited. The meetings in Treichville, for example, were held in the Kingdom Hall plainly marked with a large sign. The only concession to the newly passed decree was that the brothers now closed the windows during the meetings, despite the tropical climate.

Amazingly, four new missionaries were now granted visas permitting them to stay in Ivory Coast. And this despite the fact that they were plainly identified as missionaries of the banned Society! Thus Gilead graduates Joseph and Marcia Crawford, and Joseph and Lillie Hines, arrived on November 4, 1965. They were unaware of the restrictions placed on the work​—it was not mentioned to them. So they started out enthusiastically in service, one of the missionaries placing over 300 magazines in the first month.

ARRESTS AND HARASSMENT

Shortly afterward, however, real difficulties began. Daniel Keboh was imprisoned in Koumassi on January 1, 1966. He lived in the courtyard below the Koumassi missionary home. When the new missionaries who were living there realized that Daniel’s door had remained locked for two nights in a row, they began to make inquiries. Imagine their consternation on discovering that he had been imprisoned for preaching a banned religion!

The missionaries rushed home and took down the sign from the Kingdom Hall, which was on the floor below the missionary home. They even packed their bags in preparation for expulsion from the country. Eventually, however, they realized that matters were not that serious. However, from then on they were a little more circumspect in the way they carried on their preaching.

Some months later, on June 5, further action was taken by the police. They went to the Kingdom Hall in Koumassi and arrested the congregation overseer, George Kwakye, along with two other brothers. They took away the information board, the yeartext, literature and other things. The next day, when two brothers, Samuel Attiou and Ernest Nomel, went to visit the imprisoned brothers, they, too, were promptly arrested.

Having obtained the name of Robert Lasme from the information board, the police went to his house to arrest him. At this very time a congregation meeting was in progress there. However, Sister Lasme, who was on guard at the door, saw the policemen approaching and gave a signal. All but three of the brothers were able to slip out. These three rushed to the bedroom, and climbed into bed. Two policemen took a brief look in, but saw no sign of anyone. When they went to look in the back of the house, the three brothers escaped!

Nevertheless, six Koumassi brothers were in prison, and the missionaries were not allowed to visit them. However, a sister was permitted to bring them food, and she was able to smuggle two Bibles in to them. Every night the brothers conducted a meeting and sang Kingdom songs. The other prisoners in their cell block, some of whom would attend these meetings, used to say, “God is with us in this block.” They loved to hear the brothers sing.

When the brothers were finally brought to court, the public prosecutor said that it was not forbidden to know or teach the Bible in Ivory Coast, but that it was forbidden to propagate the ideas of Jehovah’s Witnesses. He did not say wherein lay the difference. The brothers were given a suspended sentence and ordered to pay fines totaling 350,000 francs. Later, on appeal, a higher court struck off the fines. The brothers returned to Koumassi and continued preaching and assembling as before.

Yet this was not the only such incident. Lawrence Lambert was also arrested. He was badly treated by the police, who interrogated him at length. They were trying to find out the names of all the brothers living in the area so that these, too, could be arrested. But Brother Lambert replied: “Does the priest know all the names of those who attend Mass at his Church?” They were unable to get any names from him.

Another incident reflects the general attitude of officials toward Jehovah’s Witnesses at the time. A Nigerian fellow, who was not a Witness, was taken to prison because he had the name “Jehovah” painted on his truck. He was released only when he was able to convince the authorities that he was not a Witness.

SEEKING RELIEF FROM THE BAN

It now became clear that it would be difficult for the work to progress with the ban still in force. So now every effort was made to have it lifted. Missionaries Joseph Hines and Joseph Crawford were able to obtain interviews with the Minister of the Interior, Mr. Nanlo Bamba, and his French administrative assistant, Mr. Christian Blaud. Officials of the United States embassy also intervened on the Society’s behalf, since the denial of registration to an American organization was involved.

The Watch Tower Society also prepared a 13-page document in April 1967 that explained our position of neutrality. It made clear that we were not discouraging people from performing their civil duties, but rather that we lay stress on the importance of citizens being obedient to the authorities. Copies of official documents showing that our work is legally recognized in other West African countries were also obtained. These documents, along with a letter dated May 18, 1967, were delivered to President Félix Houphouët-Boigny. It was later reported that he read the letter, approved of what it said, and sent it down to the Minister of the Interior.

Almost immediately four brothers were sent again to call on the Minister of the Interior, Mr. Nanlo Bamba. Since ours had often been referred to as a “foreign” society, four Ivory Coast brothers went this time. The first thing that the Minister did was to ask each one of them from which tribe he came. Discovering that they all belonged to tribes from the Ivory Coast, he was satisfied and let the interview continue. Then he raised the point of military service and said that Jehovah’s Witnesses would not fight for their country. Our stand of Christian neutrality was explained and some of the Society’s publications were given to him. No decision on the matter was then made, as Mr. Bamba said other officials had to be consulted.

LEARNING ABOUT THE DECISION

It was two weeks later, early in June 1967, that a Witness and an interested person were engaged in the house-to-house preaching activity. The interested person continued working after the Witness left because he was enjoying it so much. As he listened in amazement, a householder said: “Jehovah’s Witnesses were forbidden to carry on their work in Ivory Coast, but now they have been granted authority to preach.” The man reassured him that he was one of the officials who handled the matter and that the decision had been made two weeks before!

The new publisher rushed to the missionary home with the good news. The next day they visited this government official in his office and received from him a copy of the official ordinance. It showed that Jehovah’s Witnesses had indeed received official recognition and permission to continue their work for one year, after which renewal could be applied for on a yearly basis.

“The legal registration of the witnessing work gave everyone the feeling that a large weight had been removed from their shoulders,” noted one of the missionaries. “We were very happy to have endured this critical period in the history of the work of Jehovah’s people in Ivory Coast.”

On hearing the news of the lifting of the ban, the brothers showed their delight in traditional fashion. They gathered together after one meeting and sang and sang until they were too tired to sing anymore.

AN OUTSTANDING EXAMPLE OF ENDURANCE

In 1967 missionary Lillie Hines began studying with a 16-year-old Baule girl named Pauline. Her father was in government service, and she was expected to follow a certain course outlined by him. She would have the best of everything, including education in private boarding schools.

In time her father put pressure on her to stop studying the Bible. She was taken before a tribal council, but that did not deter her. Next, witchcraft was employed​—a beautiful gold ring that, unknown to her, had been blessed by a witch doctor was given her. She began to have severe headaches, but remembering that they started after she began wearing the ring, she got rid of it and gradually the headaches stopped. Even beatings and threats did not succeed in making her give up her studies.

Guards were hired to stop her from attending meetings. But she would fool them. Once she disguised herself as an old woman, walked past the guards and proceeded on to an assembly. There she took off her disguise and enjoyed the sessions. Afterward she dressed up again as an old woman and went home, right past the guards.

On another occasion she slipped away over the back fence, caught the train going to Bouaké, was baptized at the assembly there, caught another train returning to Abidjan and arrived back at school before anyone knew she was gone. Her father found out later that she had been to Bouaké and he asked her with whom she had gone. “With the sisters,” came the reply. Thinking, of course, she meant the nuns from her school, he said, “It was OK.”

When her father did find out she was baptized by Jehovah’s Witnesses, he was furious. He packed up her belongings, put her in the care of a prominent politician, and sent her off to finish her schooling in Paris, France. There he hoped that the dazzle and glitter of worldly attractions would preoccupy her so she would forget her new religion.

Although Pauline did find life in Paris dazzling, this did not dampen her zeal for Jehovah. She located the address of the branch headquarters from an Awake! magazine, and began to attend meetings there regularly. Later she started going to a congregation nearer to where she lived in the suburbs. At school she started Bible studies with a number of her classmates, at least seven of whom are now baptized!

Pauline has since returned to Ivory Coast and serves with her husband in one of the Abidjan congregations. She does not regret having given up material wealth for the sake of the Kingdom. Nor does she regret having lost her father’s favor, although she does hope that one day he may have a change of heart. Her main desire is to serve Jehovah completely and to assist her husband in training their children in the way of Jehovah.

FIRST ASSEMBLY AFTER THE BAN

By September 1967 the brothers were ready to enjoy their first circuit assembly since May 1965. Not even the fact that they had to change the location of the assembly at the last minute, or the fact that the new place had no lights and so the program had to be rearranged for the afternoon, could dampen the enthusiasm of the brothers. This was the best assembly they had ever had; it was the first time they were completely free to gather together. Despite the hindrances, 416 came to the public talk. What a marvelous increase over the 200 at the assembly two years before!

MANY MORE MISSIONARIES

At this assembly in September 1967, it was learned that more missionaries had been assigned to the Ivory Coast. Seven of them arrived by the year’s end, bringing the total in the country to 11. At this time a new missionary home was established in the Abidjan suburb of Adjamé.

Then, in November 1967, Don Adams from the Society’s Brooklyn headquarters made a zone visit, and he recommended sending even more missionaries. So, in March and April of 1968, nine more of them arrived. After a three-week crash course in French, four were assigned to open a new missionary home in Bouaké. In October 1968, yet nine more missionaries arrived.

What was it like for a foreign missionary to come and work in this country? Heidelind Pohl observes:

“Stepping off the plane it felt like coming into a sauna bath. Arriving at the Treichville missionary home, I was amazed to see shutters but no windowpanes, which were not needed, of course, in this climate. In fact, it was so hot that often during the night I climbed out of bed and lay down on a mat on the cement floor to cool down a bit.

“In the territory people were very kind. I hardly spoke any French at first, but everyone was so patient. Sometimes they would ask what we had in our witnessing bags, and pull out a book they wanted. Starting Bible studies is no problem. There were times I had 20 or more.

“One man I called on took a ‘Truth’ book and started coming to meetings. He wrote to his fiancée in Benin about his newfound faith. She did not appreciate it at all, and told him to forget about her if he continued in this religion. I called on him for the first time in October. By the end of December he was out in the field service, after he had cleaned up his life. The next March he was baptized, and he now serves as an elder in one of the Abidjan congregations. His fiancée wrote to him asking his forgiveness. He went home on vacation and arranged for a sister to study with her. A year later they were married.”

EXPANSION IN BOUAKÉ

Since the trouble in Bouaké in 1962, when the congregation was dissolved, there had been only three or four Kingdom publishers in that town. What would happen when the missionaries began their work there? In just two years the number of publishers leaped to 50, with an average of 80 attending all meetings. One of the missionaries, Otto Hauck, assisted 12 people to the point of baptism in that period. One of these was high school director Santé Poté.

Santé is a man of high principles, who refused to listen to his Catholic friends who were encouraging him to take additional wives. Soon he and his wife and four of his children were baptized. Although he continues his employment in a school, he serves as a regular pioneer, and from time to time his wife pioneers with him.

CONQUERING RELIGIOUS SUPERSTITION

Aside from the city of Abidjan, where there is a mixture of people from many tribes, most towns in the country are predominately composed of people of one or two main tribes. Bouaké is inhabited mostly by people of the Baule tribe, although many Moslems from northern areas live there too. The Baules are a forest people, related to the Ashantis of Ghana. They are generally believers in the native, animist religions, putting great faith in fetishes.

In most small villages near Bouaké there is a large fetish, usually a carved representation of some spirit or animal. The fetish may be a mask carved out of a piece of wood to represent an ancestor of the village. It is believed that the spirit that lives in the carving will leave it at night to walk around the village and protect it from all evil. The fetish is also believed to kill those who are unfaithful to it, and sacrifices are constantly required to appease it. The sacrifices may consist of eggs or rice, or even a sheep or some bottles of liquor. The fetish priest usually takes care of these!

In Abidjan, the missionary Marcia Crawford studied with a Baule couple from a village near Bouaké. The woman’s older brother also sat in on the study, but was very critical of what was being taught. The wife, however, showed great interest, and so Marcia was sorry when the couple moved back to Bouaké. Happily this was about the time the missionaries opened a home in Bouaké, and so the study was continued. In time, the husband also progressed in the truth, finally burning all his fetish objects.

Two days after this the husband received an urgent message from his father to come to his village. His panic-stricken father told him that the fetish priest had looked into the sacred calabash and had seen the souls of everyone in the village with the exception of his son’s. “This man is no longer one of us,” the priest had announced. “His soul has left us and therefore he is weak and no longer protected against any fetish.”

The son told his father that this was the best news he could have. It meant that he no longer was counted among those practicing demonism. Furthermore, he told his father, he now had the greatest of all protection against the fetish. From that moment he never looked back, and the fetish was not able to harm him.

However, his problems were many. He had five children by various women, besides six by his wife. All of these children were brought under one roof and taught Bible principles, and they eventually became a united family.

In the meantime, Marcia Crawford in Abidjan met the wife’s brother again, the one who had been critical when he sat in on the studies. To her surprise he asked for a copy of Awake! Had he changed his way of thinking? Indeed, he had! The vast change wrought in his sister’s family by the healing power of the truth had so impressed him that he now started to study regularly. Then all three, husband, wife and brother were baptized together at the “Peace on Earth” assembly in 1969.

FINE PROGRESS IN 1968

The year 1968 started well with the establishing of a fifth congregation in Abidjan. Then, in February, the brothers enjoyed their first district assembly since the ban, with 486 attending the public talk. In March the new Kingdom Ministry School for elders was held in Treichville. It was conducted by Brother Crawford who was then serving as circuit servant. The course was certainly a great help in bringing about organizational improvement in the congregations.

In April 577 persons attended the Memorial, an excellent increase of 175 over the year before. And the average number of publishers leaped from 180 in 1967 to 220 in 1968. Most of these Kingdom proclaimers were associating with the six congregations in the country.

“TRUTH” BOOK SPEEDS UP INGATHERING

In October 1968 the “Good News for All Nations” district assembly proved a real impetus to the ingathering. A fine crowd of 646 attended, and 21 were baptized. But the real highlight was the release in French of the new book The Truth That Leads to Eternal Life. This book revolutionized the Bible study activity and proved a wonderful help in bringing people quickly to a knowledge of the truth. With an average of only 220 publishers in the country, Bible studies leaped to 950 in six months. The first 5,000 copies of the book sent by the Society were distributed in a few weeks.

All the missionaries were amazed at the ease with which the new book could be placed and studies started. It was not uncommon for people to stop them on the street and ask for a copy of “that blue book.” People would come around to the missionary home and Kingdom Halls asking for a copy, and beg that someone come to study with them. Some people would even peek into the service bag of a Witness as he stood at their door and, spying the Truth book, would ask immediately to have one.

STRENGTHENING ISOLATED PUBLISHERS

In 1968 Cosmas Klévor was assigned to make a tour to visit isolated brothers and interested persons throughout the country. It was not always easy locating them, since postal addresses are not the same as house addresses in Ivory Coast. Also, the streets of the towns are frequently unnamed.

The first town visited was Dimbokro. Cosmas showed the brother and interested persons there how to conduct meetings. They were thrilled, and resolved to have a Theocratic School and service meeting each week. There is now a congregation of 24 publishers in this town.

From there Cosmas continued to Guiglo and Duékoué. All he knew about the brother in Duékoué was that he worked for a logging company. So Cosmas went to the assistant district commissioner for the area and asked him if he knew of one of Jehovah’s Witnesses who worked for a logging company in the area. He did, and even drove Cosmas to the brother’s place, quite some distance out of town.

The brother was the head of the logging company’s workshop, and he had witnessed to all his fellow workers. That night he arranged for these men to attend a talk given by Cosmas. One of these workers made fine progress in the truth.

Brother Klévor followed up this tour by another one several months later. While in Abengourou, a town in the east of the country, a little eight-year-old girl came to Cosmas and said that she knew the Witnesses had the truth. How had she come to that conclusion? Well, earlier her parents had sent her to live with a Witness in Grand Bassam to attend school there. The Witness took her to meetings and taught her the truth. However, when the parents learned about this they did not like it, so they sent her away to school in Abengourou. As soon as she heard that a Witness was in town, she began to go from house to house in the area to find him. Cosmas put her in contact with an interested person in the town to help her progress.

Brother Klévor then continued on to Daloa. There he found that the Truth book was being placed, not only by the isolated publisher there, but also by a worldly person, who was charging nearly a dollar, U.S., a copy! Cosmas put those who had obtained books from the worldly person in contact with the Witness in town. He also recommended that they study their books, something the other man had not done.

HELP ASSIGNED TO NEW PLACES

The need for qualified publishers to assist interested people in these places became evident. There were no missionary homes in the country outside of Abidjan and Bouaké. So in June 1970 a home was opened up in Daloa, and a few months later another missionary home was opened in the town of Abengourou.

About the same time, still another missionary home was opened in the far west, in the scenic town of Man. “How different were the surroundings,” noted Shirley Mitchell, whose assignment was changed from Abidjan to here. “I arrived at night in a large truck along with my personal possessions. What a beautiful surprise in the morning to see mountains all around us! They weren’t very high, but so pleasant and relaxing to look at.” Shirley went on to describe the reaction of the people in Man to the Kingdom message:

“Many persons didn’t speak French and many couldn’t read. But they were eager to hear what we had to say. When we arrived at their home, they would quickly search for someone to do the translating for us. Sometimes we found ourselves talking to a group of ten or more.

“Often people even came to our home to ask us to study the Bible with them. I remember one man who came while I was cooking for the missionary home family. He had a relative that knew the Witnesses, and his interest was kindled by what his relative had said. But he couldn’t read. So I told him that I would study with him and help him to learn to read, but that he must come to our meetings regularly. He agreed. He learned to read and write, and now he serves as a ministerial servant in the congregation.”

Linda Berry is another missionary that began working in Man in 1971. She contacted an Indian veterinarian by the name of Rabinadrath Louis. He and his wife started right away coming to meetings. Rabinadrath, however, had quite a problem to overcome​—smoking! The circuit assembly was coming up, and he tried very hard to quit before the assembly. What he did was eat peanuts every time he felt like having a cigarette. However, he ate so many peanuts that he became sick and was unable to attend the assembly. But finally, with Jehovah’s help, he was able to rid himself of the smoking habit. Both he and his wife made good progress in the truth, and they are now part of the congregation in Man.

Circuit overseer Joseph Appiah had a significant experience on his trip from Daloa to visit the newly formed congregation in Man. He explains:

“The bus conductor refused my wife and me the last two seats. This was because the owner of the bus had two relatives who wanted to go in that same direction. They arrived at the bus station and were given our places. However, after traveling about 80 kilometers [50 miles], the bus was involved in a serious accident. It crashed with a big truck, and the two relatives of the bus owner died on the spot. Many other passengers were injured. Later, on arriving in the area of the accident, people told us that our God is very powerful. This gave us a fine opportunity to witness to them.”

CIRCUIT ASSEMBLY IN BOUAKÉ

In March 1969 a circuit assembly was planned for Bouaké. The mayor granted the brothers the use of the town hall free of charge. But a few days before the assembly the radio announced that a political party would be conducting meetings there during the days the assembly was scheduled. When the mayor contacted the party leaders, they did not seem to want to cooperate in the matter. However, the mayor told the brothers to go ahead and move in. So they did, somewhat nervously, since there were some party members stationed near the hall watching the proceedings. The last thing the brothers wanted was trouble, like what they had had in 1962!

However, when the assembly started there was no interference. A peaceful assembly was held, and 343 attended the public talk. The assembly received good publicity in the national paper, an article reproducing much of the special Awake! on “Why Does God Permit Wickedness?” So an outstanding witness was given, and the event associated with Bouaké in everybody’s mind was now a successful assembly rather than the previous trouble.

“PEACE ON EARTH” ASSEMBLIES

During the following months, missionaries left to attend the “Peace on Earth” assemblies in their respective countries. When they returned they helped to organize the finest assembly Ivory Coast had up until then. Not only was the attendance of 929 good, and the number of 78 baptized outstanding, but the program was received with exceptional enthusiasm. The dramas particularly were enjoyed.

HIGHLIGHTS OF 1970

Fine theocratic growth was realized in the Ivory Coast in 1970. In March, 1,234 came to the Memorial, more than double the number who attended just two years before. During the year the number of congregations was increased to 10, and, on the average, 389 publishers reported field service each month. Significantly, 132 were baptized during the year, about one third of all the publishers in the country!

In August 1970 an exceptional circuit assembly was enjoyed in Grand Bassam. On Sunday morning nearly 400 gathered for the text and comments, and almost all of these went out in the witness work. This is a fairly small town, and it seemed that there were groups of Witnesses on every street corner. Also, an excellent crowd of 801 persons came out for the public talk, “Law and Order​—When and How?” It proved to be a particularly appropriate subject in view of the fact that the local newspaper had described Jehovah’s Witnesses as seditious.

While permission had been obtained from the police in Abidjan to hold the assembly, they had apparently neglected to inform the police official in Grand Bassam. He contacted the brothers to find out what the assembly was all about. Afterward, he was well satisfied, commenting that if all people observed the law as well as Jehovah’s Witnesses did the police would not have the troubles that they have in maintaining law and order.

The principal highlight of 1970, however, was the “Men of Goodwill” District Assembly held in Abidjan during December. For the first time delegates attended from countries as far away as the United States. They came on tours arranged by the Society. Among the visitors was F. W. Franz, then vice-president of the Watch Tower Society. The local brothers were especially happy to be able to speak with someone of the Governing Body, since the great majority of the brothers had come into the truth quite recently and had never met anyone with the true Christian hope of heavenly life. The Ivory Coast has never had anyone partake of the Memorial emblems in symbol of that hope.

Due to the elections being held in the country prior to the assembly, advertising of the assembly had been restricted. Also, since the authorities decided to repair the Cultural Center where the assembly was to have been held, the assembly site was changed at the last minute to the Boxing Club. Yet, despite these difficulties, 1,003 attended the public talk! Portions of the Bible drama and short extracts of the assembly were shown on the national television network.

BRANCH ORGANIZED

The following month, January 1971, Nathan H. Knorr, the Watch Tower Society’s president, visited Abidjan. A meeting was arranged for those in the capital, but when they heard about it brothers came pouring in from all over the country. In all, there were 761 who came together for the talk and slide showing, and they were greatly encouraged spiritually.

Brother Knorr expressed a desire to see a branch set up in Ivory Coast. He felt it would enable the brothers to appreciate Jehovah’s organization more, and, as a result, greater spiritual progress could be made. Samuel Gilman, the former branch overseer in Malagasy Republic who had come to the Ivory Coast the year before, was given instructions on following through with this. Thus on September 1, 1971, the Ivory Coast branch began operation, taking oversight of the preaching in Ivory Coast and also the work in Upper Volta.

OPENING UP OF MORE AREAS

When the company for which he worked assigned Brother Agodio Api to the port city of San Pedro in 1972, that city received its first Witness inhabitant. Brother Api found much interest, and wrote asking for special pioneers to be sent to help in caring for the spiritual needs of these persons. Finally, Samuel and Thelma Gilman made the day-long trip over rough, dirt roads, arriving around six o’clock in the evening. They were tired, covered with red dust, but happy to find their brother.

Shortly after their arrival, Brother Gilman was informed that in 20 minutes he was scheduled to give a talk to interested persons in town. So he quickly washed off the dust, changed clothes and was privileged to give encouragement to 39 persons whom Agodio had invited to come together for this special occasion. Special pioneers were soon sent into this area, and now there is a congregation of 30 publishers and three pioneers here.

The Gilmans enjoyed fine hospitality in the home of the schoolteacher with whom they stayed. For example, he prepared a special typical meal of the area. It consisted of hippopotamus meat, which Brother Gilman confessed to be “not my favorite meat!” The host told them: “It is too bad you were not here last week; you could have had elephant meat with us.”

The way the preaching work was opened up in the San Pedro area is rather typical of how it began in other areas. Brothers would write to the branch office stating that they had found persons who had shown interest in the Kingdom message. Then the circuit overseer would be sent there to work the territory for a week. On his recommendation, special pioneers, as they became available, would be assigned to follow up the interest, and eventually congregations would be established in the area.

One of the missionaries, Ryall Shipley, visited the northern towns of Ferkéssédougou and Korhogo. He reported that the field there seemed ripe for a spiritual harvest. Later special pioneers were assigned, and in both these towns there are now congregations of Witnesses.

PREACHING IN GAGNOA

In September 1971 four missionaries were sent to Gagnoa, bringing the total number of publishers there to five. One of the missionaries, Waltruad Bischof, relates:

“The first day in Gagnoa I placed two magazines with a man who lived in another town. When he came to Gagnoa again, he obtained more magazines. Soon two special pioneers were sent to his hometown, and with their help he quickly accepted the truth. The meetings were held in his house, and soon he invited the pioneers to move in with him. With such close contact with Jehovah’s servants, he made fine progress.”

Sometime there is clear indication of angelic direction in locating sheeplike ones. For example, Sister Bischof was approached by a young man who had heard about Jehovah’s Witnesses from his brother who lived in Abidjan. He wanted to learn more, and so an arrangement was made to meet this youth at a particular place the following day.

The next day, however, the youth came early, waited for 15 minutes, and then left to attend school. When Sister Bischof arrived he was nowhere to be seen. Later, she began thinking of Revelation 14:6 and how the “angel” flying in midheaven was directing our work. So she prayed to Jehovah for help in finding this young man, and it was not long afterward that, walking along a road, she saw him. He too had been searching for her. He had gone to a small Protestant display stand where Bibles were sold, and had asked if they could direct him to Jehovah’s Witnesses. They said that they could not help him. So he had come back looking along the same road, and they met.

A Bible study using the Truth book was started. Boniface Triffo Kohi was a humble student, and he tried to put into practice the new things he was learning. For example, he once asked whether it was good to have a book that was supposed to explain the meaning of dreams. Deuteronomy 18:9-13 was read. Right away Boniface saw that it would be best to destroy his book, which he did. His family was very surprised, since the book had cost about four dollars, U.S.​—a lot of money for a student. After that he made fine progress, and now serves as a special pioneer. Presently there is a thriving congregation of 30 publishers in Gagnoa.

“DIVINE VICTORY” INTERNATIONAL ASSEMBLY

In December 1973 a real stimulus to Jehovah’s people in Ivory Coast was the “Divine Victory” International Assembly. The brothers again were happy to be served by a member of the Governing Body, this time by William Jackson.

Again the site for the assembly was the Boxing Club in Abidjan. The attendance of 2,080 for the public talk was more than double the size of the crowd three years before at the assembly attended by Brother F. W. Franz. And it was particularly thrilling to see 103 persons present themselves for baptism, more persons than were baptized in the whole country up through 1964!

CLERGY OPPOSITION

Over the years the brothers in Ivory Coast have often met with opposition from the religious leaders. Joseph Appiah, who serves as a circuit overseer, explained how that opposition on one occasion backfired:

“While we were visiting Tiegba, a small island about 100 kilometers [60 miles] from Abidjan, Catholic priests tried to interfere with our work. All the villagers were told not to listen to us because Jehovah’s Witnesses are false prophets. But what happened? During the showing of the Society’s slides almost the whole village came, about 600 people! They saw from the pictures how many people have been misled by false religion. After the talk the priest ordered the young folks to stone us. However, an old man stopped them when he stood up and told the young boys: ‘We have been misled for 40 years in this village. These slides have shown me something new in my life.’”

In another instance the clergy attempted to prevent the holding of a circuit assembly. Brother Appiah explains what happened:

“In April 1974 the Society arranged for a circuit assembly in Agboville, about 90 kilometers [56 miles] from Abidjan. After I obtained permission from the police commissioner, the Catholic priests tried to influence him to cancel our assembly. We were to use the Cultural Center for the meeting. A week before the assembly, the commissioner called us and told us we couldn’t use this hall. However, we asked him to authorize us to hold our meeting in town if possible, and he agreed to it.

“Immediately we arranged for the assembly to be held in the courtyard of a local brother’s home. The problem was obtaining a location to hold the baptism, as there was no river in the area. Several hotels refused us the use of their swimming pools. However, Jehovah did not let us down. We received permission from an old Frenchman who had a swimming pool. He was an ardent member of the Catholic Church, but friendly to us. We had just finished baptizing the last of the 29 candidates when over came the priest to tell the Frenchman not to allow us to use his pool. He was a few minutes too late! We had a fine attendance of 454 persons for the public talk.”

SPEEDED-UP GROWTH

During the first half of the 1970’s it was encouraging to see the preaching work expand out to the four corners of the country. In 1970 there were just 10 congregations in the Ivory Coast, and an average each month of 389 publishers proclaiming the Kingdom message. Five years later there were 34 congregations, and an average of 949 Kingdom publishers preaching each month.

Much of this expansion occurred in the smaller cities and towns outside the capital where many of the missionaries had been sent. The missionaries did well in helping to establish a number of congregations, but then the activity in such places seemed to come to a standstill. Why?

Language was one problem. Although French is the official language of the country​—and most of the missionaries were able to master it—​each region has its own tribal language too. So to help people in these areas to progress spiritually it was important to have persons who knew the local language, as well as the customs and thinking of the people of that region.

For this reason, over the next few years special pioneers were assigned to take over from the missionaries in these towns of the interior, including Man, Abengourou and Gagnoa. It was determined that the missionaries could better use their time and abilities in Abidjan, strengthening the new congregations there and working among the city’s more than 1,000,000 inhabitants.

EXPANSION IN ABIDJAN

As missionary homes were closed in the interior, new ones were opened in Abidjan. The upper floor of Gabriel Diané’s house in the Williamsville suburb of the capital had accommodations for eight missionaries. Some of these were able to strengthen the newly formed Williamsville congregation, while others were assigned out to the nearby suburb of Adjamé. There the congregation had recently been divided, making two congregations.

A number of missionaries came to the Ivory Coast from other African countries where the work was banned. For example, Stephen and Barbara Hardy arrived from Uganda in May 1973. After serving awhile in towns in the interior, they came to Abidjan where they were assigned to the Port-Bouët congregation. At the very first meeting several interested people asked them to study the Bible with them. These new ones made good progress, and the congregation quickly grew from 28 publishers to over 50.

A NEW BRANCH BUILDING

In January 1972 Brother Knorr visited again, this time accompanied by Brooklyn factory servant, Max Larson. Brother Knorr commented: “We hope to build you a little branch here one day.” However, it was not until September 1978, that a plot of land in the Deux Plateaux suburb of the city was purchased. Then, during June of 1980, construction began on this new branch building.

The building is certainly needed. At present there is not adequate space for literature storage. The new branch not only will solve this problem, but also will provide space for an office, Kingdom Hall and accommodations for about 12 persons. It will be a more suitable center for the Kingdom activity in Ivory Coast.

“VICTORIOUS FAITH” INTERNATIONAL ASSEMBLY

The major event for 1978 was the “Victorious Faith” International Assembly in December in Abidjan’s Stade Camproux football stadium. Throughout the year preparations were being made for it. These included arrangements for brothers from other African countries, as well as a large group of brothers coming on the Society’s tours beginning in the United States, to attend. Lyman Swingle of the Governing Body was present, and so was William Jackson once again.

Friday of the assembly saw hundreds of enthusiastic brothers pour out into the Abidjan suburbs to proclaim their victorious faith, distributing the new brochure Jehovah’s Witnesses in the Twentieth Century. Brother and Sister Swingle and Brother Jackson worked along with some of the missionaries. They soon emptied their plastic bags of literature that was eagerly snapped up by interested people. Sister Grace DeCecca, for 63 years a member of the Brooklyn headquarters family, enjoyed the field service too, getting along well despite her advanced 89 years. What a witness Abidjan received!

That evening, after the sessions, a special meal was arranged for the missionaries and the visiting brothers from headquarters. All together, 64 were present. Among them was Florence Paterson, who had traveled over from Ghana. She and her husband were the first missionaries to arrive in the Ivory Coast back in 1951. She observed: “I remember how years ago it was difficult to convince the local people that there were white people who were Jehovah’s Witnesses. But now, just look at all these missionaries coming from all over the world!”

At the climax of the assembly at the football stadium on December 17 how grand it was to see 2,728 persons from 19 countries present!

Jehovah has indeed blessed the work here with willing workers, missionaries and special pioneers. Now the fruitage of their labors is being seen in a marvelous way. A peak of 1,322 publishers was reached in January 1980. And, with over 1,600 home Bible studies being conducted, the prospects are good for yet greater increases in the number of Kingdom praisers. The brothers in the Ivory Coast have expressed their determination to persevere in Kingdom service, bearing much fruit as disciples of Christ Jesus.

[Map on page 145]

(For fully formatted text, see publication)

ivory coast

MALI

UPPER VOLTA

GUINEA

GHANA

LIBERIA

ATLANTIC OCEAN

Ferkéssédougou

Korhogo

Man

Bouaké

Daloa

Abengourou

Guiglo

Dimbokro

Gagnoa

Agboville

San Pedro

ABIDJAN

Port-Bouët

Grand Bassam

[Picture on page 151]

Gabriel and Florence Paterson, early Gilead graduates in the Ivory Coast

[Picture on page 155]

Robert Markin (left) and Samuel Denoo were among the first to become witnesses of Jehovah in the Ivory Coast

[Picture on page 160]

Blaise Bley, working at the Abidjan airport, received a French “Watchtower,” liked what he read, and eventually became a baptized believer

[Picture on page 168]

Daniel Keboh, who had pioneered in different places, was one of those imprisoned for preaching in the Koumassi section of Abidjan

[Picture on page 173]

Pauline Brou gave up material wealth and lost her father’s favor to serve Jehovah completely

Upper Volta

Upper Volta was also one of the eight territories in West Africa that formed the federation called French West Africa. In 1960 the country gained its independence after being governed by France for over 60 years.

Most of the country is watered by the upper tributaries of the Volta River, hence the name Upper Volta. The country is a vast inland plateau​—from about 650 feet (200 m) to more than 2,300 feet (700 m) above sea level—​and is covered for the most part by wooded grassland. Upper Volta is landlocked, being bordered to the south by Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo and Benin, and to the west, north and east by Mali and Niger.

Upper Volta is somewhat smaller than the Ivory Coast, having about 106,000 square miles (274,000 km²). The population is proportionately less, there being some 6,000,000 inhabitants. It is estimated that over 10 percent of the Voltaic people work in neighboring Ivory Coast.

About 95 percent of the people in Upper Volta live in some 7,000 villages. Most of them make their living by farming and raising cattle. The capital, Ouagadougou, is the largest city, with a population of over 100,000. Other principal towns are Bobo-Dioulasso, Koudougou and Ouahigouya.

For centuries the Mossi people dominated the area. From the 12th century onward they developed a powerful organization and supplanted the earlier inhabitants, the Nyonyose and the Gurunsi. Now about half Upper Volta’s population are Mossi, and they speak the Moré language. French, however, is the official language, although Dyula is the language of commerce.

Christendom’s religions have not been as active in this more remote area as they have in the Ivory Coast. About 5 percent of the people are nominal Catholics, while only a few are Protestants. Most of the population is animist in religion, attaching great importance to ancestor worship. Only recently, in June 1963, did Jehovah’s Witnesses first become active in the country of Upper Volta.

THE PLANTING OF KINGDOM SEED

The preaching work was opened up when seven brothers, originally from Togo, Benin and Congo-Brazzaville, moved to Ouagadougou. They sought employment here so that they could serve where the need is indeed great. They took a small supply of literature with them and soon distributed it among the people. Some of it was like seed sown on fertile ground.

Emmanuel Johnson, a Togolese resident of Upper Volta, was working as a medical assistant for a large company in Ouagadougou. One day in 1963 a friend visited him, throwing down two books and saying, “They’re yours, you book-worshiper. They’re not expensive.” He went on to explain that he had bought them from some people who had recently come to town. “They have other nice ones too,” he added.

One of the books was From Paradise Lost to Paradise Regained. Right away Emmanuel began reading it. The more he read, the more he wanted to meet the people who were distributing these books. Then one day they were visiting his house! Brother and Sister Dinga showed him how to study the book, and started a regular Bible study.

“I tried always to be ready for the study,” explains Emmanuel. “I really drank in the truth. Why, they even said that they had never studied with anyone who showed such interest. They came to see me many times, apart from the regular Bible study we had.” But then the brothers were arrested. Why?

The Roman Catholic clergy misrepresented the Witnesses before the authorities and published papers against the Christian work they were doing. Thus, in February 1964, all the publishers were arrested and detained for 13 days without food. Under the influence of the clergy, the officials expelled them from the country because, as they said, “the government does not like Jehovah’s Witnesses’ religion in Upper Volta.”

Before Brother Dinga left by train, Emmanuel was able to contact him. It was arranged to continue their study by correspondence. So as soon as Brother Dinga arrived in Abidjan, he sent the first list of questions, which Emmanuel answered and returned. Brother Dinga corrected it and sent more questions. And so it went for the next five years.

THE SEED BEARS FRUIT

“After the expulsion of the brothers,” Emmanuel wrote, “I came to realize the role that the Catholic Church had played in the matter. So I collected together all my Catholic books, booklets, magazines and even some Gramophone records of hymn-singing. I made a pile out of them and doused them with plenty of paraffin and burned them. I prayed to Jehovah that he help me to serve him. Two days later, I received through the mail my first copy of The Watchtower in French. I felt that was really an answer to my prayer.”

For a few months during 1968 a brother from France came to live in Ouagadougou. He was a real help to Emmanuel, but soon he had to leave. So Emmanuel carried on alone preaching the Kingdom message. He was strengthened by letters from brothers and sisters in several countries who had seen in the Yearbook that there was just one publisher in Upper Volta, and had written to encourage him. In December 1969 Emmanuel traveled to Abidjan for the “Peace on Earth” assembly, where he was baptized.

THE ARRIVAL OF HELP

When Herbert Jennings, the branch servant of Ghana, visited Abidjan in 1969, he asked if there were any volunteers to serve as special pioneers in Upper Volta. “I put up my hand,” James Kwakye remembers. “But I was the only one who did!” Later, in May 1970, another pioneer also volunteered. So the two teamed up, and on July 1, 1970, they left on the train for Ouagadougou. Emmanuel was there at the train to meet them, and had a room ready where they could stay. But the newcomers were in for a surprise, as Brother Kwakye explains:

“The next morning, while on our way to the National Security Department, we were arrested by the police. That same morning there had been reports in the newspaper of the work of Jehovah’s Witnesses being banned in Cameroon. We were questioned about Jehovah’s Witnesses not paying their taxes, as the newspaper wrongly reported. Quickly I took out a copy of the ‘Truth’ book and showed the officer the chapter ‘Christian Obedience to Law.’ I studied through the appropriate paragraphs with him right then and there, and he soon realized that the press reports about us were inaccurate. However, he told us not to preach from house to house until further notice. So we only did informal witnessing. How glad we were that the publications were pocket-sized! Out we would go, pockets bulging somewhat, to contact people informally and tell them the good news of the Kingdom.

“Three weeks later we were summoned to the National Security Department again. We were told, ‘All right, you can continue preaching now!’ We applied for a Resident’s Permit, and we received permission for a ten-year stay. By way of saying thank you for this, we decided to witness to all the ministers in the government and other high officials, which we did beginning in January of 1971. Among those contacted was a police chief. He was very interested in the truth and subscribed for the ‘Awake!’ magazine.

“In May of 1971 we traveled back to Ivory Coast to attend a fine circuit assembly in Dimbokro. On our return to Ouagadougou we were arrested again, this time by a policeman. I was taken by car to the Police Department, and on arrival I was taken before five senior officers. To the astonishment of the policeman who arrested me, one of these senior officers greeted me, ‘Hello, James. I am sure these colleagues of mine here would also like to subscribe to your magazine.’

“I had a fine time witnessing to them all and I was able to place two books and five magazines. One of the officers told the policeman who had arrested me to take me back home by car because, as he said, ‘It is too hot outside, and besides we do not have any case against him!’”

FOUNDATION FOR A CONGREGATION

Brother Kwakye soon afterward contacted the headmaster of a school who showed particular interest in the truth. A study was started and his whole family came into the truth. This new brother, Jean-Baptiste Yago, was one of three persons contacted by Brother Kwakye who soon became Witnesses.

Meetings began to be held in Emmanuel Johnson’s house. Some boys would throw stones at the house whenever meetings were held. But James had enough friends among the police to have these young hooligans quickly discouraged!

GILEAD GRADUATES ARRIVE

In March 1972 Joseph Crawford and his wife came from Abidjan to Ouagadougou. Their objective was to find a missionary home. No, not for themselves, but for the six Gilead graduates who had been assigned to Upper Volta. The Crawfords were on hand to welcome Wayne and Paula Almost, Bob and Fern Hurd and Jay and Gloria Martin. Arrangements were made for Brother Crawford to give these new missionaries a six-week language course and help them get established in their new assignment.

Brother Martin was appointed home overseer. Resident permits were granted, and the missionaries were well installed in Ouagadougou. For a time the work continued only there in the capital. But special pioneers were soon sent to Bobo-Dioulasso, and then, in 1973, a missionary home was established there. Robert and Lana Oliver and Brian and Jacqueline Pearce, who had previously served in Kenya, were assigned to Bobo-Dioulasso. After the lush, green fertile area of Lake Victoria in Kenya, it was a real contrast for them to come to the savanna of Upper Volta with its dryness for most of the year.

KINGDOM PREACHING EXPANDS

Shortly thereafter, in December 1973, the brothers in Upper Volta were invited to attend the “Divine Victory” assembly in Abidjan. In the group that made the long journey south were several Voltaic people who had learned the truth from the special pioneers. Three of these were Bernard Bakoi, Norbert Ouedraogo and Jules Tapsoba, who symbolized their dedication by water baptism at the assembly. On return to Upper Volta their joy at having attended the large gathering of Jehovah’s people was manifested in zeal for the preaching of the good news.

Later Bernard Bakoi served as a special pioneer. His assignment was the town of Ouahigouya, in the north of the country in the Sahel region. Now there is a small congregation there. Special pioneers were also assigned to open up the work in the country’s third largest town, Koudougou.

Wayne Almost served as the circuit overseer until 1978, making visits to the congregations and isolated groups of Upper Volta. He has seen the work really open up. Witnessing is now going on in five of the major towns, Ouagadougou, Bobo-Dioulasso, Koudougou, Ouahigouya and Banfora. And the government has granted permission for us to move out into two other towns, Kaya and Fada N’Gourma. We now have five congregations in the country.

MISSIONARY ROLE IN PREACHING

As each class of Gilead School graduated we were happy to receive news of more workers assigned to Upper Volta. At present there are 25 missionaries in the country, and they have had a prominent share in the expansion of the Kingdom preaching here. Many of them first, though, had to learn French. And one of the best ways to learn is to use the language. This resulted in a number of amusing experiences, especially in a country where newcomers are not always familiar with local customs.

Renée and Philip Alderson are Gilead graduates from the United States. Soon after they arrived in 1974, Renée and Sister Almost were out preaching. Renée, still taking her language course, was prepared to deliver her presentation in French. Plucking up courage she approached the man of the family and valiantly spoke to him. Throughout her presentation of the Kingdom message he gazed raptly at her.

When the ‘sermon’ was over, the man asked if he could buy Renée as a wife and inquired about the dowry. Renée thought that at last she was beginning to get a grasp of what people were saying to her. She decided to risk a direct reply to him. However, she had mistaken the question and thought the man had asked her how long she had been married. So she replied, “I have been married for five ânes (donkeys),” poorly pronouncing the word for “years,” which is ans. To which the man dejectedly replied, “Wives cost a lot where you come from!”

THE FIRST KINGDOM HALL

Philip Alderson, along with missionaries Roy Makin and Wayne Almost, took the initiative in building a new Kingdom Hall in Ouagadougou. Philip tells about the project:

“At first we held our meetings in the living room of the missionary home, but this quickly became too small as the attendance rapidly grew. So we considered making a ‘hangar’ or ‘lean-to’ outside in the compound of the missionary home. Eventually, though, we settled on constructing a separate building, but still within the compound of the home.

“The local brothers were very enthusiastic. They assured us that they had a lot of experience at building the local-style houses, and were confident that we would be able to build a suitable Kingdom Hall. It was decided to construct a large rectangular building, with three open walls and a thatched roof supported by beams and poles.

“We started in November 1975. But what we had not realized, and what the local brothers failed to mention, was that all the buildings they had put up were small round huts. Now, faced with a rectangular construction, quite a few problems were encountered. However, by working together, these were solved. In fact, the whole project had a fine unifying effect on the congregation.”

On weekends, in particular, the whole compound was the scene of great activity. Brothers were squatting on the ground weaving the straw for the matting and thatching of the roof. The sisters prepared the meals. What a thrill to see such a group of people not only from many racial backgrounds, but more especially from differing tribal backgrounds all there together accomplishing a work that resulted in a Kingdom Hall to the praise of Jehovah’s name!

Where did the money come from for purchasing the bricks, cement and other essentials for this project? Much of it came from donations of the local brothers. However, when the missionaries went home on leave they were able to show slides of the project to their home congregations, and many brothers volunteered to contribute to help with the expenses.

For example, when Margarita Königer returned on a visit to Germany she spoke about the Kingdom Hall construction. By this time the hall was well under way, and it was seen that a metal roof would be more practical and durable. On hearing this, one brother in Germany wrote out a check to cover the full amount to buy the metal sheeting.

An 80-year-old sister in California, although confined to a rest home, sent $5. Sound equipment was built specially by a German brother and donated to the congregation. Indeed, the project was finished with the help of the worldwide family of Jehovah’s people.

With hearts overflowing with gratitude to Jehovah and their brothers worldwide, 94 persons met in the newly completed Kingdom Hall on Saturday, May 1, 1976, to dedicate the building to Jehovah. Sam Gilman from the branch office in Abidjan gave the dedication talk and Wayne Almost showed slides of the expansion of the Kingdom work throughout Upper Volta.

SHARING IN “VICTORIOUS FAITH” ASSEMBLY

What a grand experience it was for the brothers in Upper Volta in December 1978 to travel south for the “Victorious Faith” International Assembly! Jean-Baptiste Yago and his whole family saved their money for over a year to make the trip on the specially arranged train coach from Ouagadougou to Abidjan. Brother Yago’s eldest son serves as a special pioneer. His next child, Matthias, 12 years old, said he will never forget this assembly because he was baptized there that Saturday morning.

The brothers from Upper Volta delighted the assembly audience with their experiences. Matthias gave a demonstration of how he witnesses, with his younger brother serving as householder. The missionaries told how every week Brother Yago’s children accompany them in the service.

Although Brother Yago himself auxiliary pioneered, he was not able to spend as much time as Matthias did in the field service. Matthias’ youthful enthusiasm has served as a fine witness. Even adults who mocked him were astonished. One man scoffingly asked Matthias, “What is faith?” To the man’s surprise, the answer was quickly forthcoming as Matthias thumbed through his Bible and read to him the definition given at Hebrews 11:1.

This Christian zeal among the young and old alike is producing marvelous results in Upper Volta. From just the one publisher, Emmanuel Johnson, back in 1969, a peak of 137 active Kingdom publishers was reached in December 1979. Then in March 1980 a crowd of 691 persons met together in the country’s seven congregations for the Memorial. What potential for further increase in the number of praisers of Jehovah! The brothers and sisters in Upper Volta are determined to work hard to help these many new ones onto the road that leads to eternal life.

[Map on page 196]

(For fully formatted text, see publication)

upper volta

MALI

NIGER

IVORY COAST

GHANA

TOGO

BENIN

Ouahigouya

Kaya

OUAGADOUGOU

Koudougou

Fada N’Gourma

Bobo-Dioulasso

Banfora

[Picture on page 197]

Emmanuel Johnson, the only witness of Jehovah in Upper Volta for many years

[Picture on page 199]

James Kwakye (left) contacted Jean-Baptiste Yago, headmaster of a school. He and his whole family became Witnesses

[Picture on page 202]

Building the first Kingdom Hall in Ouagadougou

New Zealand

In 1769, when the first Europeans stepped onto New Zealand shores, the brown-skinned Maoris were there to meet them. They had come to these remote South Pacific islands by canoes in the 14th century, more than 400 years before the whites. “The Maoris’ own accounts,” concludes one historian, “of the Fleet of A.D. 1350 are so convincingly corroborated by external evidence that they possess the dignity of authenticated history.”

By 1840, when there were only about 2,000 whites in New Zealand, thousands of Maoris were becoming interested in the Bible. Some 60,000 copies of the Christian Greek Scriptures were produced in the Maori language in the early 1840’s. At that time a larger proportion of Maoris than of whites could read and write.

But as Europeans came in ever-increasing numbers, wars with the Maoris resulted. The Maori population was greatly reduced, and the number of whites rapidly grew. Now New Zealand has over 3,000,000 people, only about 8 percent of whom are Maoris. There are still many immigrating annually to New Zealand; some 15 percent of the population is foreign-born.

Most of the population live on the two major islands, North Island and South Island. A 16-mile (26-km) strait separates the two islands. More than 70 percent of the people live on the North Island, even though it is the smaller of the two. New Zealand’s total land area of 103,884 square miles (269,057 km²) is about the size of Colorado in the United States.

The scenic charm of this land that the Maoris called Aotearoa, “The Land of the Long White Cloud,” comes from a blending of rolling green pastoral country, picturesque lakes and fjords, a thermal region of geysers and boiling mud pools, a distinctive flora of considerable beauty, hundreds of sandy, ocean beaches, rugged snow-capped mountains, glaciers and relatively smog-free cities. The islands’ major cities​—all having more than 100,000 population—​are, in order of size, Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin.

By far the majority of New Zealanders profess Christianity. There are more than 900,000 who belong to the Church of England, some 570,000 Presbyterians, 480,000 Roman Catholics, and 170,000 Methodists. And there are about 7,000 Jehovah’s Witnesses, some 1,000 of whom are Maoris. The history of Jehovah’s Witnesses in New Zealand begins over 75 years ago.

EARLY BEGINNINGS

About 1904, a Brother and Sister Richardson arrived from the United States in Auckland on the North Island. A small Bible class was started there. By 1907 a group was also meeting in the home of H. S. Tarlton in Christchurch on the South Island. Soon afterward, however, some drifted away because of a dispute over the significance of baptism.

However, good seed was sown in Christchurch in those early days. A colporteur, as full-time preachers of Jehovah’s Witnesses were then called, made a visit to 1 Coronation Street. A kindhearted Mrs. Barry accepted the six volumes of Pastor Russell’s books, ‘because she felt sorry for the old gentleman.’ Early in 1909, her son William and a companion were leaving on a six weeks’ trip by boat to England. Seeing the six volumes, and knowing they would have to ‘kill time’ on the trip, they threw the volumes into one of their travel bags. By the time they had sailed halfway round the world via Valparaíso, Cape Horn, Rio de Janeiro, Teneriffe and finally to London, Bill Barry had studied the volumes to the point of accepting their message as truth.

Years later, in June 1914, his companion wrote him: ‘Bill, the world has never looked more peaceful; Pastor Russell must have been wrong.’ But then came July and August, and the Great War exploded in a time of terrible trouble, something that the Bible Students had been expecting for that year.

In the 1920’s, the truth became well known in the business world of Christchurch as “Bill Barry’s religion.” In his younger years Brother Barry was acquainted with some clergymen and would discuss the truth with them. He said he knew a number of ‘decent’ parsons before the first world war, but never could he find a one after that time. He put this down to their bloodguiltiness in advocating the war, so that they were judged and rejected by Jehovah.

Later Bill did a fine job of inculcating Bible truths into the heart of his children. In time, his son Lloyd entered Bethel service in Australia, spent 25 years as a missionary in Japan, and has for the past six years served on the Governing Body of Jehovah’s Witnesses at Brooklyn, New York.

Back in those early days around 1910, Sisters Evans and Blick lived in the capital city, Wellington. A traveling colporteur made a visit on a farmer at Taita, about 15 miles (24 km) out of Wellington, that soon led to great joy for these sisters. The farmer the colporteur visited was Jack Walters. Jack ordered three volumes of Studies in the Scriptures. His wife, Edith, relates:

“It was two months before the books were delivered and my husband read day and night until he finished them and we talked of nothing else. He wrote to America for a Bible and some more books. To his delight and surprise they sent the fourth, fifth and sixth volumes of ‘Studies in the Scriptures,’ about which we knew nothing. They also gave us the Society’s Melbourne address.”

Jack Walters wrote to Melbourne, Australia, for a case of books. On receiving them, he loaded up his bicycle and went over the hill to the neighboring valley of Wainuiomata to tell the few isolated farmers there about his new found faith. Today there is an extensive residential development there, and a Kingdom Hall of Jehovah’s Witnesses.

On receiving Walters’ literature order, the Melbourne office sent a letter to Sisters Evans and Blick advising them that a J. F. Walters in nearby Taita was interested. How overjoyed they were to find this young 26-year-old man, a brother in the truth! Thus in 1911 the Wellington congregation got its start. Jack Walters’ mother came into the truth, also his sister and brother and other family members.

MEN WHO PIONEERED THE PREACHING WORK

Ed Nelson, a man full of energy and zeal, not overly endowed with tact, but whole-souled for the Lord’s work, had much to do with the early development of true worship in New Zealand. His speech was uncompromising and colored by a Finnish accent. Baptized in the summer of 1902 at Los Angeles in the United States, he worked in the Society’s Melbourne office in 1909 and 1910 before coming to New Zealand. For 50 years he pioneered, until his death in August 1961. From the kauri-tree gum fields in the north of New Zealand to the Bluff (southernmost tip of New Zealand), one will still meet individuals who remember the calls made on them by Ed Nelson.

The first convention of Jehovah’s people in New Zealand was arranged by Brother Nelson in December 1912. Around 20 persons gathered at the rear of a private home in Wellington. Of this group, eight came forward to present themselves for baptism. In those days it was a serious occasion, with the candidates dressed in long black robes.

In 1914, Ed Nelson was joined by Frank Grove, who was baptized in December 1913. Frank soon afterward gave up his bookshop business in Christchurch. He wanted to enjoy at least a few months of pioneer service before the expected end of the system came in the autumn of 1914. Later, Frank was fond of quoting Jeremiah 20:7: “You have fooled me, O Jehovah, so that I was fooled.” His pioneer service that he expected would be brief stretched out through more than 50 rewarding years until his death in 1967.

In completing a questionnaire for the Society on one occasion, Frank Grove noted regarding his health: “Very poor eyesight.” Those who knew him remember the extreme magnification of the lenses in his spectacles and his penetrating virile voice that never lost its strength. When witnessing groups paused for a noon-hour sandwich, they would often gather around Frank, who would recite from memory long passages of Scripture, even including whole chapters of Leviticus and other Bible books. He had oversight of the congregation in Christchurch for many years and later, from 1940 to 1945, also served in this capacity in Invercargill.

Frank Grove was present for New Zealand’s second convention in December 1913, attended by 50 persons from all over the country. There were no motorcars in those days, so conventioneers traveled by train to the Lower Hutt rail station. There they were met with horse-drawn carriages that took them to the farm convention site. Very few of the conventioneers had ever met each other before, and they had a joyous time together. A large barn was fixed up for the meetings. A hayloft was cleared and filled with rented single beds for the brothers, with the sisters being accommodated in the farmhouse, as well as in a rented furnished house.

By 1914 there was a very small but solid nucleus of Kingdom proclaimers. Four were colporteurs, while eight others did what was called “volunteer” work. This consisted of distributing Peoples Pulpit and The Bible Students Monthly, putting these under the doors on a Sunday morning. This tiny band of Kingdom publishers, 12 in all, distributed 3,172 books and 75 magazines in 1914.

“PHOTO-DRAMA OF CREATION”

The Photo-Drama of Creation was a motion picture and slide presentation about God’s purposes as taught in the Bible. The Watch Tower Society produced it, and it was released in 1914. The presentation was brought to New Zealand by Brother Lee from Vancouver, Canada. On October 1, 1914, it was shown in the Wellington Town Hall.

Sometimes the recorded voice of Pastor Russell synchronized with the film and often it didn’t, but it was a fine production just the same. Quite a number came into the truth as a result of seeing it. One of these persons was Alice Webster, who is still a faithful preacher in the Lower Hutt congregation.

In Christchurch, there were only three Bible Students at the time, so three more came from Wellington to assist in showing the film and the slides. They hired the largest hall in Christchurch, the King’s Theatre. The hall was filled to capacity every night for a whole month! That was in the days before the law prohibited smoking in public auditoriums. So the atmosphere was thick with tobacco smoke, requiring a 7,000-candlepower arc lamp to penetrate the murk.

Since the arc lamp operated on only 45 volts, the brothers used great coils of ordinary fencing wire to reduce the 110-volt supply. The coils sometimes got very hot, and on one occasion set fire to the operating box. An alert fireman quickly cut off the current. After that the brothers always had several wet blankets on hand to meet such an emergency. Yet, neither the murk nor the primitive equipment diminished the force of the presentation. The audiences were simply thrilled and gave rapt attention.

A TIME OF TESTING

When the Watch Tower Society’s president, Charles Taze Russell, died in 1916 and Joseph F. Rutherford succeeded him, the ripples of discord reached out even to New Zealand. Some in the organization openly disapproved of Brother Rutherford’s appointment. A few agitators in the United States wrote letters to brothers in New Zealand, attempting to stir up division. At the same time, there were attacks from the outside. Newspapers in New Zealand carried scurrilous attacks on Jehovah’s people. On one occasion detectives were present at a Bible study in Wellington, thinking to find seditionists among the brothers.

Nevertheless, the preaching work went successfully ahead, with the number of Kingdom proclaimers increasing from 12 in 1914 to 18 in 1918. One of those added to the small Wellington congregation during the war years was Oliver Canty, a former Salvation Army captain. After reading the Studies in the Scriptures he realized he had found the truth and so resigned from the Salvation Army. He married one of the sisters in the Wellington congregation in 1917 and moved to Dunedin where he was the congregation overseer until his death in 1934. Thus a congregation was formed in the fourth-largest city in the country, making a total of six congregations from north to south. This established a backbone for the energetic preaching that was undertaken in the 1920’s.

HOW THE TRUTH SPREAD

The pioneers in the early days were trailblazers in the true sense of the word. They penetrated to the most inaccessible corners of the country at a time when transportation was very primitive, and the roads for the most part were little more than bullock tracks. Sister Early was such a trailblazer. When later pioneers arrived they found that Sister Early had been there before them. One pioneer noted: “Sister Early was always ‘early,’ whether you spelled her name with a capital ‘E’ or just plain ‘e.’”

When Sister Early died in 1943, at 74 years of age, she had pioneered 34 years. She covered the whole country on a bicycle. Even when she became crippled with arthritis and couldn’t ride, she used the bicycle to lean on and to carry her books around the business territory of Christchurch. She could climb stairs, but she had to descend them backwards because of her crippling disability! One night her doctor asked: “Are you ready to go to heaven, Miss Early?”

“It cannot come too soon, Doctor,” she replied. Undoubtedly she realized her hope, and the ‘things she did went right along with her.’​—Rev. 14:13.

Public talks by visiting brothers from the Australian branch office also did much to promote theocratic growth in the 1920’s. For instance, Bill Cooper attended the talk “Millions Now Living Will Never Die,” given in 1920 by William Johnston in the Wellington Town Hall. Bill came into the truth, and for many years he was the presiding overseer in Wellington.

When the same talk was given in the gold-mining town of Waihi, young Bill Samson and his wife responded to the invitation to attend. They left their names and address, and Ed Nelson and his wife visited them. Afterward the call was turned over to Fred Franks who helped the Samsons along into the truth.

Among those associating with the Christchurch congregation in the 1920’s, as it met in a dimly lit inner room at the Builders’ Chambers, was a former soldier who had lost one leg in World War I​—Michael Cassidy O’Halloran. Yes, Mick was Irish and had been Catholic. Later when he was hospitalized to have his other leg removed, the hospital staff could not understand how a man with such a name could be one of Jehovah’s Witnesses. Despite his handicap, Mick spent many years in full-time service in New Zealand and Australia. Always cheerful, and with a ready Irish wit, he did much to encourage others, young and old, in the way of truth.

The Society’s literature placed by zealous workers started many in the way of the truth. Reg Johnston, who lived in Thames, another gold-mining town near Waihi, couldn’t remember the time when the six volumes of Studies in the Scriptures weren’t on the family’s bookshelf. Before her death in 1916, his mother would talk to him about things the volumes contained. Wanting to know more, Reg later contacted “Grandad” Franks, as Fred Franks’ father was called. Reg explained:

“Night after night this old brother helped me to understand the truths we hold so precious. Often as it approached midnight, he would say, ‘It’s time to go home, Reg.’

“My father was still alive, and he and other relatives were angry at my change of religion, called ‘Franks’ religion’ in Thames. Finally the showdown came. Dad chased me out of the house because I wouldn’t stick to the Church of England.”

Reg Johnston later married and served with his wife, Reta, for three and a half years at the Bethel in Australia. In 1940 he returned to New Zealand and was “servant to the brethren,” as circuit overseers were then called, from 1940 to 1946.

Ken Pepin came to New Zealand from England in 1924. One day in September 1928, as he was leaving his place of secular employment after a long day, he overheard a man sigh with relief: “Heigh-ho! Another day nearer the grave!”

Ken turned to a fellow worker walking beside him and said: “He means a day nearer heaven, doesn’t he?”

“No, he’s right,” came the unexpected reply. The conversation developed for a few minutes as they approached a streetcar terminal. There they parted to travel home by different routes. However, the next morning Ken’s fellow worker brought him a copy of the booklet Where Are the Dead? As Ken tells it:

“I read the booklet to prove it wrong, checking every statement and reference with the Bible. However, I found it proved my previous beliefs to be wrong. I never went to church again.” Ken later spent many years pioneering in New Zealand.

Cliff Keoghan was a butcher working at Taumarunui in the center of the North Island. His fiancée in Auckland wrote him in 1928 to say that she had just read a book that explained the Bible most clearly. She wrapped up the book, The Harp of God, and mailed it to him. That day her house was burned to the ground. Everything was lost, but the book was on its way in the mail.

That book changed Cliff’s life. Returning to Auckland, he started attending the meetings with the local congregation of about 30 persons. Now he is an elder in Auckland, which has 21 congregations and some 1,800 Kingdom publishers.

The late 1920’s brought serious unemployment in New Zealand, a time when under no ordinary circumstances would a person give up a secular job. Yet in 1928, Bert Christensen did, and entered the pioneer service. “I have never had a moment’s regret,” he explained. His territory assignment? The whole west coast of the South Island! It took Bert six months to cover his territory, staying where he could, either with the friends or at boardinghouses.

By 1928 there were 10 pioneers and some 63 part-time workers in New Zealand. They distributed about 12,000 books and 28,000 booklets that year. To keep these zealous preachers supplied, a literature depot was established in Wellington in 1928. Eventually a house at 69 Kent Terrace, Wellington, was purchased as a depot. This place was the headquarters of Jehovah’s Witnesses in New Zealand right up to when the branch was formed in 1947.

MAORI ASSEMBLY

The first Maori gathering was held in 1928 at Tuiri Tareha’s home in Taradale on the east coast of the North Island. Tuiri had obtained the Society’s literature from relatives, and soon became convinced he had found the truth. So he resigned from the church. His son Charles describes what happened:

“This caused a commotion in the Anglican hierarchy, due to dad’s prominence in Maori society. They immediately requested a special meeting for the purpose of getting him to withdraw his resignation. Dad agreed to the meeting​—not in the church—​but on our property where a huge platform was erected for the occasion. A number of clergymen, including F. Bennett, the Anglican bishop of New Zealand, along with a large crowd of about 400 others, both whites and Maoris, were on hand.

“The Maori spokesman for the Church seemed purposely to avoid using the Bible. Rather, he appealed to the emotions. ‘Our ancestors believed that the soul continued on after death,’ he reminded, ‘and yet you have chosen to adopt a religion that denies the existence of the soul.’ Then dad proceeded to show from the Bible that the person himself is a soul, and, therefore, when the person dies, the soul dies. Dad also explained that God can resurrect the person as a living soul once more.

“When it became apparent that the Anglican clergyman was not presenting a convincing case, he made an impatient gesture toward the nearby church that my great-grandfather had built, and in an emotion-packed voice exclaimed: ‘I make one last appeal to you not to abandon this sacred heritage handed down to you by your illustrious ancestors.’

“After that dad stood up, thanked all for coming, and explained that he was more convinced than ever that he now had the truth. He informed everyone of the day and time of our regular Bible study, inviting them all to attend. Many did.”

TRUTH REACHES REMOTE SHEPHERD

Back in 1929, Lew James was working on a large sheep station near Cheviot in the South Island. On a warm, sunny day, after finishing his noon meal, he was taking a brief nap in the bunkhouse when a figure loomed up in the doorway. It was Ben Brickell, a young man who said he was making an effort to “reach all people to assist them to gain a knowledge of God’s Word the Bible by personal research.” Lew began to ply him with questions: “What happens to you when you die? Is there really a place of eternal torment?”

“The ease with which the man opened up his Bible and read the scriptures in answer to my questions really amazed me,” Lew explained. “For almost an hour he held me spellbound, telling me of the resurrection, the coming thousand years of peace, the earth to be restored to paradise and, above all, that Jehovah is the true God.”

Lew obtained the four books Creation, Prophecy, Deliverance! and Government, and requested that more literature be mailed to him. Soon he was sitting up half the night discussing the Bible with his shepherd companions, and had them reading The Watchtower. Finally he wrote to the branch in Australia and offered himself as a pioneer. He was instructed to locate Frank Grove in Christchurch. Leaving the sheep station he headed for Christchurch and a new career as a pioneer in Jehovah’s service.

PUTTING KINGDOM INTERESTS FIRST

About this time Cliff Keoghan was contemplating marriage. The monthly Bulletin (now Our Kingdom Service) carried the bold heading: “GO YE ALSO INTO THE VINEYARD.” “This seemed to us a clear call that it was the eleventh hour,” Cliff explained. So in 1930 he and his wife Edna spent their two-week honeymoon pioneering. Their territory was from Opotiki to Dannevirke, nearly a quarter of the North Island! Cliff described one of their sleeping accommodations:

“In Opotiki we rented a little tin shack where we slept on a wire mattress. It was set up on boxes, with only a blanket over the wire. We called it our ‘printing press,’ because of the imprints that marked our bodies after a night’s rest.”

In 1931 a son was born to the Keoghans, so they wintered in Auckland. But a few months later they were out with their infant son, carrying the Kingdom message to the people.

PIONEERING DURING HARD TIMES

The Keoghans joined forces with others who were pioneering. Among the pioneers were Norman and Olive Cochrane, Wally Wood and his daughter Eileen, Len and Arthur Rowe, and Len Belcher. Starting just south of Auckland, the group worked all districts from coast to coast, southward.

New Zealand was then in the grip of the depression, and people were struggling to exist. Government relief camps had been set up in the Hauraki Plains, which was mainly unbroken swampland. Men, including doctors and lawyers, were pouring into the camp from all over the North Island. Some had walked from as far as Wellington, over 300 miles (480 km) away. They worked at digging canals and drains that were being developed in the swampland. Most of these men listened to the pioneers, but they were not able to pay for literature.

As December 1932 drew near, the pioneers headed for the national assembly in Wellington. Brother MacGillivray, the branch servant in Australia, and Harold Gill, who had been assigned to organize the preaching work in New Zealand, were at this assembly. Here the pioneers were organized to work both main islands.

WORKING THE NORTH ISLAND

One group of pioneers were instructed to make their base 90 miles (145 km) north of Wellington at Palmerston North. They had a Buick caravan, a Buick car, two tents and four bicycles. The bicycles were carried on a platform fixed onto the front of the car. At side roads a bicycle would be unloaded, and a pioneer would disembark to work that territory. Usually the sisters witnessed in the towns, with the brothers working the rurals.

While camping at Eketahuna, the brothers would leave at 6 a.m. and during the day would cycle more than 26 miles (42 km) on rough gravel roads. Often they would call at farm after farm, only to find them deserted. The families had just walked off, having lost everything in the economic depression. They left the houses with the furniture still in them. Persons who were found were usually pleased to hear the Kingdom good news and to know that in Jehovah’s due time they would “long enjoy the work of their hands.”​—Isa. 65:22, AV.

Then an unexpected emergency arose. Serious difficulties developed in the Auckland congregation because of rebellious actions by some of the elected elders. So the branch office in Australia told the pioneer group to return to Auckland to support the loyal ones, and to set up a pioneer home there. Thus the planned work of the North Island group was cut short.

THE SOUTH ISLAND PIONEER GROUP

The South Island group numbered some 12 to 14 pioneers. Harold Gill organized the group, which Jim Tait, in time, joined.

Jim was a serious-minded young man who responded to the invitation to hear a transcription lecture by J. F. Rutherford in the Civic Theatre in Christchurch. On arriving there, Jim was introduced to Harold Gill. Harold asked if he could see Jim Tait outside the Civic Theatre the following evening, since he had heard that Jim was really interested in the things he had heard. The next evening Jim rushed through milking the cows and rode his bicycle the six miles to the Civic Theatre. They sat in Harold’s car and talked. Said Gill finally: “If you are sure this is God’s organization then you need to go pioneering now!”

“What do you mean by ‘pioneering’?” Jim asked.

So the arrangement for the pioneer group was explained to Jim. Would he leave his secular occupation and the security it represented in such depressed times? He decided to leave and described what happened:

“Brother Gill called at home for me as arranged. The day was hot and a strong Northwest wind was blowing. I was dressed in a navy blue suit and a brand new hat. My belongings along with my bicycle were fastened onto his car. I said good-bye to my parents and left to join the group of pioneers, still not knowing fully what pioneering really involved. One thing I did really believe . . . I was joining myself to God’s organization.”

STALWART PROCLAIMERS OF THE GOOD NEWS

They were hardy individuals, these pioneers, willing and able to endure hard work and rugged conditions. They worked for eight to 10 hours each day, receiving no allowance, but depending solely on the income from literature provided them at reduced rates.

Wintertime in the South Island was a test of endurance. The pioneers would wake up in the mornings to find, hanging from the interior of the tent, icicles formed from the condensation of their breath as they slept. The walls of the tent would be frozen as hard as a board. The morning wash meant breaking ice up to half an inch thick. Often the brothers ate breakfast while wrapped in their overcoats in order to keep warm.

One day each week was set aside for overhauling and repairing their “iron horses” (bicycles) and doing their laundry. The latter was a primitive operation done in an open-ended kerosene tin over a kerosene burner. The sisters used a petrol iron while the brothers kept their trousers pressed by placing them under the mattress each night.

The apostle Paul’s experience recorded at 2 Corinthians 11:26, “in dangers from rivers,” was duplicated when the pioneers reached the small town of Tuatapere in the far south. At this time they were in two groups of six. Some of the brothers set up camp just out of Tuatapere, on the banks of the Waiau River. They found a frail little shelter that was not being used and moved in.

The weather was unusually mild, which brought an unseasonable thaw in the mountains. The river rose, but the pioneers were not unduly concerned as they were having their evening meal. But as darkness approached, they noted with alarm that the water was lapping the floorboards. They were trapped! They had only two candles for lighting. Late that night, after offering a prayer to Jehovah, they finally fell asleep.

During the night the river burst its banks. Soon driftwood and logs were banging against their frail shelter, waking them up. Reaching out his hand to pull up the blankets onto his bed, one of the pioneers was shocked to touch water! It was a frightening experience! They thanked Jehovah the next morning when they found the level of the water had receded below the floor, leaving a smelly layer of mud and silt. Temporarily marooned, they stayed one more night until it was safe to wade out to the road to continue, undaunted, in Jehovah’s service.

The South Island was covered twice by the group. Interestingly, it wasn’t until 1933, after pioneering a whole year with the group, that Jim Tait was baptized in the sea one cold October day. On the second time around the island, Jim tried to save enough from his literature placements to purchase a set of artificial teeth. As they completed their tour, he found that he had just the required amount, £25 ($50.00, U.S.). How pleased he was that Jehovah had prospered him in this way to enable him to meet this need! Then, before he could buy the teeth, he received a letter from the Society asking him if he would like to go to the Chatham Islands, virgin territory at that time.

The Chatham Islands are located some 500 miles (800 km) east of Christchurch, being considered part of New Zealand. They then had a population of around 800 Maoris engaged principally in farming and fishing. People there lived primitively, not having seen so much as a bicycle. The only form of transport was by horseback. Jim would have to travel by ship from Lyttelton to Waitangi, a small port on the Chathams’ main island, and he was to pay his own fare​—exactly £25!

SERVING IN THE CHATHAM ISLANDS

So off Jim went to the Chatham Islands, his artificial teeth still a fond hope for the future. He arrived with several cartons of books and booklets. He explained:

“There was not a person on the island that I knew. No one to meet me. Everyone was riding a horse. There were no roads and no motorized vehicles of any sort. I approached a farmer and rented the use of a horse. I made holding bags out of sacks and filled these with books and hung them on the sides of the saddle. I had another sack on my back with my shaving gear and towel, as I set off to cover the island with the Kingdom message.

“People were curious and at night there was always someone who would take me in. How grateful I was for such provision by Jehovah! Some days I rode many miles and would call on only one or two homes. Once I received the strangest directions for reaching a remote sheep station 25 miles [40 km] away. For instance, one landmark was a heap of dry bones where a bullock had died. Here a change of direction was to take me to a particular point for entering a shallow lake, which was to be traversed for four miles [6 km] in a straight line, lest by straying off course the horse and I should become bogged down in a kind of quicksand. I began wondering, Will Jehovah provide for me tonight? Will I be accepted at the homestead? What if they will not take me in?

“It was dark when I tied my horse to the rails at the house. With my bag of books, I went up to the door and knocked. A woman opened the door, took a look at me and gasped: ‘Jim Tait! What are you doing here?’ Yes, it was a young woman who, as a child, had gone to school with me. I was made very welcome. Jehovah God had provided for me again. How happy I was! Nearly all my books were placed at the homestead and next day I made the return journey to Waitangi.”

After spending two months witnessing in the Chatham Islands, and placing many cartons of books, Jim returned to Lyttelton, the port of Christchurch. He balanced up his expenses with the contributions from the literature and found that he still had exactly £25. So he was able to purchase his artificial teeth! Years later at an assembly he had the joy of meeting a sister with a young family who recalled first seeing him when he called at their home in the Chatham Islands.

ADVERTISING IN CHRISTCHURCH

The Christchurch congregation arranged to hold a public lecture at a theatre in the heart of the city. The talk was to be the transcription lecture “Fascism or Freedom​—Which?” by the Watch Tower Society’s president Joseph F. Rutherford. The City Council granted a permit for a sandwich-board march to advertise the talk. The route to be followed was given them so there would be no conflict with a band contest procession scheduled about the same time.

The brothers set out with their sandwich boards, two abreast. As they approached the main street, they could hear the sound of band music getting closer. Just as they reached the intersection, a band playing stirring march music passed. There was a gap of about 50 feet between it and the next brass band. What would the brothers do? Into this gap the sandwich marchers went, bearing placards advertising the talk. It was quite a witness to the thousands of people lined up on both sides along the route! That Sunday the small Christchurch congregation had 500 in attendance for their public talk. What a mighty witness!

ZEALOUS SISTERS

Meanwhile, on the North Island, Sister Ida Thompson, along with Sisters Barton, Jones and Priest spearheaded the preaching work during the 1930’s. They would spend nine days at a time away from their homes, witnessing in all the towns and farms for several hundred miles north of Wellington. They took many cartons of literature with them and nearly always placed them all. Many nights would find them bedding down in hay sheds or sleeping in their car. They were prepared to “rough” it for the sake of the Kingdom, keeping up this activity from 1932 right up to 1940. Ida Thompson’s son, Adrian, was one of the first missionaries to enter Japan in 1949, where he showed a similar “pioneer” spirit as the first circuit overseer of Jehovah’s Witnesses in that country.

The emphasis during these early years was entirely on the distribution of literature. People were encouraged to read and study the publications, but Bible studies as we know them now were unheard of. However, a great sowing of the seeds of truth was accomplished.

SOUND-CAR WORK

A principal means of proclaiming the Kingdom message at this time was by sound car. Brother Rutherford’s speeches were amplified so that, at times, they could be heard over three miles (5 km) away. Once a householder told Jim Tait: “Do you know, I heard a most unusual thing this morning. I heard music coming out of the clouds and a man’s voice. I thought the end of the world was coming!” Receiving an explanation of matters, she readily accepted Bible literature.

In Auckland the sound-car work received a mixed reception. At times, when the publishers arrived following the sound-car announcement, the householders would be waiting for the literature with money in hand. At other times, angry crowds would rock the car, trying to pull the loudspeaker off the roof.

J. F. RUTHERFORD’S VISIT

In 1938, J. F. Rutherford made his one and only visit to New Zealand. Arriving in April on his way to an assembly in Australia, he spoke to the Auckland congregation at the Fountain of Friendship Hall. That same evening Brother Rutherford’s ship left for Sydney, Australia, now with 14 brothers from New Zealand as his traveling companions. All were invited to his private suite on ship, April 15, for the celebration of the Memorial.

On the return journey two weeks later, an organized witness was given aboard ship. Leaflets were slipped under each door and the whole ship was covered early in the morning before anyone was aware of what was going on. With a few hours to spare in port on arrival in Auckland, Brother Rutherford gave a public address in the Auckland Town Hall during the lunch hour on May 2, 1938.

ACTIVITY AS STORM CLOUDS GATHER

In 1939, Robert Lazenby was assigned to look after the New Zealand literature depot in Wellington. Reg Johnston, who had been serving at the Australia Bethel, joined Robert. There were only about 12 brothers associating with the Wellington congregation at the time. They were meeting in the sitting room of the 69 Kent Terrace house, which also served as depot headquarters. By 1939 there were 320 Kingdom publishers in New Zealand, including 35 pioneers, and they were organized into 19 congregations.

Storm clouds of religious opposition were now gathering. The Catholic Church, in particular, was smarting from the exposé of her teachings and practices by the literature distributed by the Witnesses. The April 19, 1939, issue of the New Zealand Catholic Tablet referred to Jehovah’s Witnesses and stated: “Meanwhile it is the duty of all good citizens to protest to their representative in Parliament against this growing menace. If sufficient protest were made, the Government would be obliged to act.”

PREACHING WORK BANNED

A year later, on October 13, 1940, the brothers were advertising Brother Rutherford’s recorded talk “Government and Peace” in the small South Island town of Oamaru. That night about 40 persons, including a police constable, were present for the presentation. The second world war was on in Europe, and persecution of the Witnesses had been stepped up. So George Edwards and Hallett Ridling were on guard at the door. A William Meehan, armed with a .303 rifle with bayonet fixed, approached them. “I have got the wood on you two now,” he said. “So put up your hands! I will shoot if you disobey.”

A scuffle ensued in which the two brothers sought to disarm the man. The gun went off, and Frederick MacAuley standing nearby went down, wounded in the leg. Bleeding profusely, he was rushed to the hospital. Six days later he was in such critical condition his leg was amputated. He made a good recovery after that. When Meehan was brought to the Court he was found guilty merely of threatening Edwards and MacAuley with a gun, and was sentenced to two months’ imprisonment with hard labor.

Three days after the shooting incident, the secretary of the Oamaru Returned Soldiers Association, Mr. A. C. Piper, wrote to the General Secretary of the New Zealand Returned Soldiers Association in Wellington. He said:

“At a Meeting of the Executive of the Oamaru Returned Soldiers Association the following resolution was carried unanimously: That in view of the tragic occurrences at a meeting of the sect calling themselves ‘Jehovah’s Witnesses’ held in Oamaru on 13th October, 1940, and in view of the strong local public sentiment against this sect, the Government be requested to have the sect banned throughout the Dominion of New Zealand. . . . Their activities should be stopped before further trouble is caused in other parts of the Dominion.”

Thus in October 1940 the activity of Jehovah’s Witnesses was banned in New Zealand. Interestingly, however, during the debate on the War Emergency Regulations, six weeks later, Prime Minister P. Fraser said:

“I hold no brief for any particular Church, but I consider that it is my duty as Prime Minister . . . to see that, during the war, insults to people’s religion are stayed and, if possible, eliminated for the time being. . . . I am hoping that the Attorney-General can come to some arrangement with Jehovah’s Witnesses, for I do not doubt their sincerity or their single-mindedness. We have nothing to say against them, and we do not question their right to worship according to their consciences.”

On May 8, 1941, the government issued an amendment to the ban on Jehovah’s Witnesses. This made it lawful for them to hold their meetings “for study of the Bible, prayer, or worship.” In practice the brothers and sisters were also permitted to witness from house to house provided they carry only the Bible. This they did.

ACTIVITY DURING BAN

Just prior to the ban, property at 177 Daniell Street was purchased for use as a Bethel home, since the facilities at 69 Kent Terrace had become overcrowded. The Kent Terrace building was rented as a boardinghouse until after the ban was lifted in 1945. With the announcing of the ban, the literature was moved out to the congregations around the country. It was hidden under beds, in sheds and under roofs of homes. At the Daniell Street house, Reg Johnston partitioned off a large section of the roof area above the ceiling, complete with trapdoor, and stored literature there. He filled mail orders from this supply and replenished it as needed from supplies stored in the homes of the brothers around the city.

The police would arrive at publishers’ homes unannounced and conduct a search for the Society’s literature. Often it was so well hidden they couldn’t find it. One sister had hidden literature under the carpet and the police were walking on it but found nothing. Another brother recalls: “All they found were our study copies. What they didn’t know was that there were 50 cartons of literature stored in the ceiling.”

Molly Thompson made typed stencil copies of each Watchtower study article. Copies were made and sent to the congregations for study purposes. The new book Children was stenciled, and a thousand copies were duplicated and sent out in sections to the friends, along with study questions for the midweek book studies. Printing and duplicating equipment was concealed behind panels in the walls and ceilings of George Covacich’s somewhat isolated home in Auckland.

Also, the friends would meet secretly late at night to distribute booklets in letter boxes, sometimes arriving back home at two o’clock in the morning. Next day there would be a stir when people would telephone the police. In Christchurch, Sister Messervey was caught and imprisoned for a week. The police wanted to know the leaders of Jehovah’s Witnesses in New Zealand. She said she would tell them as a special favor. When the three men had eagerly gathered around, she whispered to them that the leaders were Jehovah God and Christ Jesus, much to their chagrin.

During the four months immediately following the ban there were 14 court cases. A number of brothers were given three months’ imprisonment, while others received suspended sentences. Grace Bagnall was out witnessing when police arrested her after receiving a phone call from a Roman Catholic man. When she refused to pay the £5 fine ($10.00, U.S.), she was imprisoned for 14 days.

NEUTRAL STAND BRINGS DETENTION

The government established detention camps during the war. Because of their refusal to share in military service, the brothers were incarcerated in those camps for the duration of the war, and for six months afterward. There were about eight such camps, and some 80 brothers spent upward of four and a half years each in them. They were put to work pruning trees in the pine forests, working on roads, and other such jobs. Robert Lazenby and Reg Johnston were able to visit the brothers in these camps once a month for an hour at a time.

During the winter months the conditions for the brothers in detention were harsh. They lived in huts, and fires were not allowed. Ink froze in bottles. The brothers placed layers of newspaper between the blankets and underneath themselves to provide better insulation against the cold. Although the camps were surrounded by barbed wire and patrolled by guards 24 hours a day, Watchtower magazines and other new publications found their way into the camps.

Various methods were devised to get publications into the camps. When Doris Best visited her husband, Cliff, their young baby would be passed to him. He, in turn, would pass the baby to the other brothers to hold for a while. Literature was concealed in the baby’s clothing, and, after removing it, the baby was handed back to its mother. Also, magazines were wrapped in greaseproof paper, and baked in the center of a cake that was mailed to prisoners.

While in the camps the brothers preached the Kingdom message to all who would listen. Meetings, too, were held, and in the Strathmore camp, about 40 miles from Rotorua, a convention program was even organized. The brothers obtained the use of a long double hut that was available for religious meetings. They drew up a program based on one that had been smuggled into the camp. Secretly they invited other inmates to attend, and many joined the 31 brothers for the program.

BAN LIFTED

Meanwhile, the brothers outside were maintaining heavy pressure on the government to lift the ban. Finally, on March 29, 1945, the newspapers throughout New Zealand reported the lifting of the ban. The Wellington Dominion reported under a small, single-column headline:

“The removal of the special restrictions imposed on Jehovah’s Witnesses was announced yesterday by the Attorney-General, Mr. Mason. He said that he had revoked the notice issued by him under the Public Safety Emergency Regulations, which declared their organizations subversive. . . . In Australia (as in other countries) Jehovah’s Witnesses had been free from restriction for some considerable time, with entirely satisfactory results. . . . The Government had the fullest assurance that the same good results that had attended the removal of restrictions in Australia would be also experienced in New Zealand.”

To this day opposers of our work like to charge that Jehovah’s Witnesses were found to be subversive during the war. But this is powerfully refuted by the fact that the ban was lifted while the war was still being fought. Catholic action, hand in hand with the Returned Soldiers Association, had conspired in trying to show that Jehovah’s Witnesses were fomenting trouble and that the shooting incident in Oamaru was indicative of the kind of trouble that the government could expect throughout the country if Jehovah’s Witnesses were not restrained.

The lifting of the ban created some unusual circumstances for the brothers. In Christchurch the police telephoned Andrew Downie to say he could come and collect all the publications that had been confiscated. With appropriate Scottish dourness, Brother Downie said: “But sir, we didn’t fetch them to you.” He proceeded to make it clear that since the police had confiscated the books he expected them to bring them back. It took two trips with the police van to return them all.

Despite the ban, the number of Kingdom publishers jumped from 320 in 1939 to 536 in 1945. With the end of the war, even grander increases followed. By 1949 a peak of 1,131 publishers was reached! And that year the first assembly was held with an attendance of more than 1,000.

STRENGTHENING THE ORGANIZATION

In December 1946, Charles Clayton arrived. He was the first graduate of Gilead School to be assigned to New Zealand. The following March, the president of the Watch Tower Society, Nathan H. Knorr, visited New Zealand and a branch office was established in Wellington. Robert Lazenby became the branch servant. A few months later three more Gilead graduates arrived​—Howard Benesch, Orville Crosswhite and Samuel Betley.

Brother Betley learned the Maori language and was able to help develop the work among the Maoris. The 1950 Yearbook reports:

“The prospects are very good for a greater increase among the Maori race. . . . During the year, twenty Maori public talks have been given, with a total attendance of 470, most of whom were strangers. Before the talk begins, and in accordance with Maori custom, one of the village elders first welcomes the speaker and visitors from other villages. At the conclusion the people do not leave immediately, but remain to discuss the talk. Perhaps one or two will give an impromptu speech, each expressing his view of the points raised by the speaker. One might be in full accord with what has been said. Another may express disapproval and raise questions. Then the speaker has the final say, clearing up the points requiring further explanation. Such discussions, all conducted in the Maori tongue, often last a long time after the conclusion of the public meeting.”

The first Kingdom Hall in New Zealand was built by the Maori brothers in Waima in 1950. Much of the timber was cut from trees felled on their own land.

ROYAL VISITORS RECEIVE LITERATURE

Early in 1954 the Queen of England learned from a Maori sister of the activity of Jehovah’s Witnesses in New Zealand. The Wellington, New Zealand, Dominion newspaper explained:

“A Bible and a book published by the Watchtower Society were unexpectedly handed to the Queen by a Maori woman who came on the dais at McLean Park, Napier, today to be presented to Her Majesty and the Duke of Edinburgh. Mr. and Mrs. Tuiri Tareha were two among the 74 people presented to the Royal visitors. Instead of shaking the Queen’s hand, Mrs. Tareha passed to Her Majesty a small, neatly-wrapped brown-paper parcel.”

The package contained the New World Translation of the Christian Greek Scriptures and a copy of the book “New Heavens and a New Earth.” Brother Tareha explained, as a newspaper report quoted him: “The Queen once said that she wished that she had the wisdom of Solomon so that she could rule her people with equity and justice. We were confident that these books would help her.”

GROWTH IN THE 1950’S

The early and mid-1950’s were years of remarkable theocratic growth in New Zealand. In 1951, at the national convention held in the Wellington Town Hall, an audience of 1,645 listened to Brother Knorr give the public talk, “Proclaim Liberty Throughout All the Land.” The New Zealand Herald of December 31, 1953, commenting on a recent census, raised the question as to why Jehovah’s Witnesses were enjoying such increases in numbers. It said:

“The increase in immigration is reflected in some of the totals. The Dutch Reformed Church, for example, had only 37 followers in New Zealand in 1945, but by 1951 it could claim 264. No such simple reason can be found for the increase of Jehovah’s Witnesses 1 from 650 to 1756 in the same period.”

Perhaps a partial answer for the growth of Jehovah’s Witnesses was supplied by a leading New Zealand Anglican churchman, Dean Chandler. Writing in the Christchurch Star-Sun on the matter, he said:

“Perhaps our most serious neglect is that of pastoral visitation, for as it is necessary for a shepherd to go around his flock continually, so it is necessary to find opportunity to discuss with our people vital problems that harass their minds and to rescue them from some of the heretical entanglements in which they are likely to be caught. Having said this, I am painfully conscious of my own neglect in this respect.”

He continued:

“I am more than ever convinced that the printed word has got to supplement the spoken word to an ever increasing degree. If we wish our people to be strong in faith we have got to encourage them to read and study far more than they do at present.”

Of course, that is exactly what Jehovah’s Witnesses in New Zealand were encouraging and helping people to do. And many were responding and growing to Christian maturity. In fact, New Zealand was providing spiritual help for other fields. By 1951 a total of 13 New Zealand pioneers had graduated from Gilead School and had been sent to serve in other countries. Included among them was the first Maori graduate, Rudolph Rawiri, who later returned to New Zealand to do circuit work.

NEW BRANCH HEADQUARTERS

In 1956 Brother Knorr visited New Zealand once again. This time 3,510 heard the public talk he delivered at the national convention held at Carlaw Park, Auckland. During his visit the decision was made to buy land in Auckland and build a new branch here.

Although Wellington is the country’s capital, and the branch had been located there, Auckland is the faster-growing city. So the new buildings for the Bethel home, office, Kingdom Hall, shipping department and printery were constructed in Auckland. When these were completed, the Bethel family took up residence in March 1958.

A stimulating three-day dedication program was held for the Society’s new Kingdom Hall and branch buildings on June 13 to 15, 1958. It coincided with a one-day visit of 150 Australian brothers who were on their way to the 1958 international assembly in New York. In time, 152 delegates from New Zealand also left for this historic Divine Will International Assembly. The delegates represented more than half of New Zealand’s 87 congregations. The brothers were greatly encouraged by these events, as indicated by the new peak in August of 3,346 Kingdom publishers in New Zealand. That meant there was now one publisher for every 616 persons in the country.

That same month, while many of the New Zealand brothers were at the Divine Will convention, the branch servant, Robert Lazenby, died. It happened suddenly, while he was giving a service talk to the Mt. Albert congregation in Auckland. In a letter to Brother Gibbons, who reported the matter, Brother Knorr said:

“I always enjoyed fellowship with Brother Lazenby and am very happy to know that he died faithfully with his boots on, an expression we use here in America, and that he was serving his brothers. That is a very fine way to pass away. I knew he was ill. I would have liked very much for him to have been at the convention, but it is a joy to hear that he knew of the fine results of the assembly and of the things that happened here.”

Benjamin Mason, a Gilead graduate who had been serving in the New Zealand branch office since 1957, became the new branch servant.

LEGAL BATTLE

In January 1958 the brothers applied for the use of the Levin and District War Memorial Hall for a three-day assembly. The Levin Borough Council was agreeable to this until the Returned Services’ Association [later called Returned Servicemen’s Association] voiced strong disapproval. A resolution was passed to the effect that “a War Memorial is sacred to the memory of those who served their country in time of peril,” and, therefore, Jehovah’s Witnesses should be denied the use of the facilities. While a few Borough Councils resisted the Returned Services’ Association (R.S.A.) pressure, many others weakly capitulated. This meant that scores of Memorial halls would be closed to the Witnesses.

The brothers took legal action in an effort to overturn this discriminatory attempt to deny their use of these facilities. At the hearing in May 1959, the Society’s lawyer, F. H. Haigh, argued:

“This ban can be regarded as nothing less than fantastic and there is not the slightest justification for deciding that what persons did during World War II should be the test in 1958 regarding their rights with some utilitarian war memorial. The Council’s action is a denial of natural justice brought about by unjustified discrimination.”

On August 21, 1959, Justice T. A. Gresson of the Supreme Court of New Zealand handed down the following decision:

“It cannot be disputed that the citizens of the Borough who are Jehovah’s Witnesses comprise a lawful section of the community, and, though in a relative minority, they must, in my view, enjoy the same legal rights and bear the same legal obligations as members of the Returned Servicemen’s Association. In declining to allow the plaintiff the use of the Hall, the defendant Council in my view acted in breach of the wide terms of this trust . . .

“In these circumstances I make the following declaration: ‘That the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society . . . are entitled to have access to the Mount Roskill War Memorial Hall for the purpose of holding Bible lectures at such reasonable times and upon such reasonable conditions as the Mt Roskill Borough Council shall impose.’”

The next day all the daily newspapers carried a report of the decision. Under the heading, “Humble Pie Week at the Road Board,” Auckland’s Waiheke Resident said:

“Mr. Justice Gresson gave a decision regarding religious discrimination by local bodies that has rocked our benighted members, all eight of them. . . . The Board, like a lot of weak-willed local bodies up and down the country, scurried to obey the R.S.A. when it told them that Jehovah’s Witnesses were not to be allowed the use of Memorial Halls. Mr. Gresson says the Witnesses have as many rights as the R.S.A. So the Road Board must now open the Waiheke Memorial Hall to the Witnesses or openly flout the law as they flouted the democratic rights of the Witnesses. Now the Witnesses can worship their God in their own way without being subjected to the tyranny of the Waiheke Road Board.”

“EVERLASTING GOOD NEWS” ASSEMBLY

New Zealand’s largest theatre, the Civic, was the site of the “Everlasting Good News” assembly in Auckland in 1963. But even it was not large enough, so the 2,000-seat Auckland Town Hall was also used to accommodate the crowds. The peak attendance of 6,005 included 191 visitors from 16 countries. Fred W. Franz, then vice-president of the Watch Tower Society, was among the delegates who were traveling around the world attending this series of “Everlasting Good News” gatherings.

On his arrival Brother Franz was welcomed in traditional Maori style on the sidewalk in front of the Civic Theatre. Passersby were immediately drawn by the singing Maori dancers in attractive native attire. It was difficult to say who enjoyed the unusual welcome the most, the enthusiastic onlookers, or Brother Franz and the Maori sisters who greeted him with a handshake and a nose rub.

This assembly was truly a landmark in the history of New Zealand. Unprecedented radio and television coverage was received, the highlight being a 95-second film of the baptism. A fine witness was given, by both the preaching of assembly delegates and their conduct. “You are the best organized and by far the best behaved people I have seen,” the manager of the Civic Theatre said.

KINGDOM HALL CONSTRUCTION

As noted earlier, the Maoris built the first Kingdom Hall in New Zealand back in 1950. It was not until 1955 that New Zealand’s second Kingdom Hall was dedicated in Gisborne. But then, during the 1960’s 58 Kingdom Halls were built as the brothers moved out of rented halls​—often musty and laden with cigarette and alcohol odors—​into beautiful, clean new buildings dedicated to Jehovah’s worship. How grateful the brothers are for these!

This building program continued during the 1970’s. Now there are 119 congregations of Jehovah’s Witnesses in New Zealand, and 112 of them have their meetings in their own Kingdom Halls. And additional Kingdom Halls are in the planning stage.

“PEACE ON EARTH” ASSEMBLY

In November 1969 picturesque Alexandra Park, Auckland’s Trotting Club Raceway, was transformed into a beautiful assembly site by 1,500 volunteer workers. Over 5,000 potted flowers, 300 trees and shrubs and hundreds of square feet of “instant lawn” were used in decorating the platform. Green variegated geraniums against a background of red begonias spelled out “Haere-Mai” (Maori for “Welcome”). The occasion was the six-day “Peace on Earth” International Assembly, attended by both N. H. Knorr and F. W. Franz, as well as by scores of other delegates from foreign lands.

A special program, which included Maori singing and dancing, was arranged for the overseas delegates. One Maori brother told the enthusiastic audience that there were 193 of his fleshly relatives present at the assembly. This illustrated how well the Maoris were responding to the Kingdom message.

Some of the Auckland Trotting Club’s committee members beforehand had expressed doubts about allowing Jehovah’s Witnesses to use their facilities. But how they felt after the assembly was indicated by this letter received from the secretary:

“As your convention has now drawn to a close, may I take this opportunity to express my Committee’s appreciation to you and to all your delegates for the outstanding way in which your meetings at the Alexandra Park Raceway were conducted.

“May we also thank you and your workers for the wonderful cooperation you have shown, and the manner in which you have maintained the facilities during your stay.

“If you should ever wish to have another convention in this area, we hope that you will avail yourselves of the facilities at Alexandra Park.

“In conclusion may I express on behalf of myself and the Course Manager, our personal thanks to all concerned and advise that it certainly has been a pleasure to have you.”

Yes, raceway officials, hotel proprietors, traffic officers and businessmen were warm in their unsolicited praise of the cleanliness, friendliness and exemplary behavior of the Witnesses. One safety officer said that he had not seen anything to equal it in his 40 years’ experience. Some described it as the best organized convention ever held in New Zealand.

Again good publicity was received from the news media. The baptism of 421 new Witnesses was publicized nationwide. One convention speaker noted that one in 10 of all baptized, active Witnesses in New Zealand was immersed on November 7, 1969, during the assembly. For the public talk, “The Road Back to Peace in Paradise,” delivered by Brother Knorr, a fine crowd of 8,400 persons was present.

ADDITION TO BRANCH HEADQUARTERS

By 1973 a peak of over 6,000 Kingdom publishers had been reached, and the branch headquarters completed back in 1958 was overcrowded. So in July 1973 construction began on a large addition to the original structure. The December 1973 Kingdom Ministry reported:

“The last brick was laid on Sunday, November 18 . . . The entire project was virtually completed in 18 weeks to the day and preliminary figures indicate that 248 different brothers spent some 16,000 hours of work during that time. How grateful we are for their splendid support. Already we are feeling the benefits of the increased work space.”

MILESTONE ASSEMBLIES DURING 1970’S

The “Divine Victory” International Assembly in 1973 was the greatest theocratic event ever experienced in the South Island’s largest city, Christchurch. The 500 visitors from Australia and 350 from North America helped swell the attendance at Lancaster Park to a remarkable 11,640, more than 3,000 above the number attending the 1969 international assembly. Leo K. Greenlees of the Governing Body was the principal assembly speaker.

Five years later, in December 1978, the “Victorious Faith” International Assembly in Auckland’s Eden Park became the largest gathering of Jehovah’s Witnesses ever held in New Zealand. The peak attendance was 12,328. Lloyd Barry, John Booth and Ted Jaracz, all members of the Governing Body, served on the assembly program.

CARING FOR PEOPLE’S SPIRITUAL NEEDS

Over the years about 60,000 Polynesians from the islands of Samoa, Tonga, Niue and Rarotonga have come to live and work in New Zealand; some 36,000 of them reside in the greater Auckland area. To care for the spiritual needs of these people, a Samoan-speaking congregation was established in Auckland in February 1977. It is one of the fastest growing congregations in the country; 216 attended its Memorial in March 1980.

To equip the brothers to help sheeplike ones more effectively, special schools have been conducted. In 1978 the revised 15-hour Kingdom Ministry School Course was attended by 700 Christian elders in New Zealand. Then, in 1979, 184 full-time Kingdom preachers greatly benefited from the two-week Pioneer Service School course. And about this same time John Wills, Ed Gibbons, Charles Tareha and John Cumming, members of the New Zealand branch committee, attended the five-week Gilead Branch School Course at the Brooklyn world headquarters. There they received practical instruction to help them discharge their responsibilities to care for the spiritual needs of the people in New Zealand.

Another fine provision for advancing the Kingdom educational work has been the new assembly hall of Jehovah’s Witnesses in New Zealand. The old State Cinema in an Auckland suburb, originally built in 1934, was purchased and completely renovated by about 400 Witnesses who volunteered their services. This beautiful facility was dedicated in February 1978, and since then seven circuits have been holding their assemblies there semi-annually.

WITH JEHOVAH’S BACKING

Reviewing the work of Jehovah’s Witnesses in New Zealand since its beginning over 75 years ago, the blessing of Jehovah God becomes clearly evident. Each week now thousands of persons flock to over 100 fine Kingdom Halls to learn more about their God Jehovah and his grand purposes. On March 31, 1980, a great crowd of 15,385 attended the Memorial. Many of these are actively proclaiming their Kingdom hope.

There are now over 7,000 publishers sharing in the Kingdom proclamation in New Zealand. About 350 of these are pioneers. Collectively, they spend each year about a million hours preaching, and they distribute over a million copies of The Watchtower and Awake! Practically every home in New Zealand receives a call from one of Jehovah’s Witnesses about three times a year.

What has been accomplished in preaching the good news of the Kingdom in New Zealand, as well as throughout the world, is not due simply to the efforts or abilities of any human or body of humans. Rather, it is being accomplished, as Jehovah himself says: “Not by a military force, nor by power, but by my spirit.”​—Zech. 4:6.

[Map on page 208]

(For fully formatted text, see publication)

new zealand

TASMAN SEA

PACIFIC OCEAN

Auckland

Thames

Waihi

Rotorua

Opotiki

Gisborne

Taumarunui

Taradale

Dannevirke

Palmerston North

Eketahuna

Lower Hutt

WELLINGTON

Manakau

Cheviot

Christchurch

Lyttelton

Oamaru

Dunedin

Tuatapere

Invercargill

[Picture on page 210]

Bill Barry (right): In Christchurch the truth was known as “Bill Barry’s religion.” His son Lloyd (left) is now a member of the Governing Body of Jehovah’s Witnesses

[Picture on page 214]

Frank Grove pioneered right up to his death in 1967​—more than 50 years

[Picture on page 220]

Charles Tareha, a Maori, now serving in the New Zealand Bethel. When his father, a prominent Maori, accepted the truth, it caused a real commotion in the Maori religious community

[Picture on page 228]

Pioneering in the South Island during the 1930’s​—“In dangers from rivers”

[Picture on page 230]

Jim Tait, after hearing only one talk by J. F. Rutherford, left his job and the security it offered to pioneer

[Picture on page 232]

One of the sound cars used to proclaim the Kingdom message

[Picture on page 237]

Bethel home at 177 Daniell Street, where literature was hidden in a roof section above the ceiling during the ban

[Picture on page 242]

Maori brothers built New Zealand’s first Kingdom Hall in Waima in 1950

[Picture on page 247]

Robert Lazenby, branch servant for many years until his death in 1958

[Picture on page 249]

Brother Franz receiving the traditional Maori greeting, a handshake and a nose rub, when visiting Auckland for the “Everlasting Good News” assembly

[Picture on page 253]

Branch building in Auckland

[Picture on page 255]

The old State Cinema in the Auckland suburb of Devonport was purchased and renovated to become an assembly hall

Legally Recognized in Most Countries

During 1980 Jehovah’s Witnesses were able to carry on their preaching work legally in 187 countries. In many of the countries local corporations are formed in harmony with governmental regulations. In others the earlier major corporations of Jehovah’s Witnesses are legally registered to permit owning of property, sending in of missionaries and receiving shipments of Bible literature.

The major legally recognized corporations that represent Jehovah’s Witnesses and the dates when they were organized are as follows:

1884 Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania, U.S.A.

1909 Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York, Inc., U.S.A.

1914 International Bible Students Association, London, England, and affiliated corporations in Canada and other British Commonwealth nations.

1953 Monomi-no-Tō Seisho Sasshi Kyōkai (Japan)

1956 Wachtturm Bibel- und Traktat-Gesellschaft (Germany)

1979 Association Chrétienne Les Témoins de Jéhovah de France

OPENING OF WORK IN SOME COUNTRIES

During the service year of 1980 it was good that the new government of Central African Republic removed the ban against Jehovah’s Witnesses, on September 27, 1979. While there had been no ban on our work in Zaire, on April 30 the government granted legal recognition, which will enable a further expansion of the work in that country.

We regret to report, however, that on July 24, 1980, our work was legally dissolved in Iran and all our religious teachers were expelled and evacuated to Europe for reassignment to other countries.

PERSECUTIONS AND IMPRISONMENTS CONTINUE

Jesus said: “A slave is not greater than his master. If they have persecuted me, they will persecute you also.” (John 15:20) So it is that some hundreds of our brothers remain in prisons. Jehovah’s Witnesses know that when they suffer as Christians it is for a righteous cause. (John 17:16; Isa. 2:4) It is not for taking sides in politics, or for being involved in a seditious conspiracy, or some crime of violence. (1 Pet. 4:15, 16) So it is not for any such wrongdoing that Jehovah’s Witnesses face persecution in these days but, rather, for zealously observing the commandments of God and sharing in the work of bearing witness to Jesus.​—Rev. 12:17.

APPEARING BEFORE COURTS

Legal cases continue to come up before the courts of the land, involving Jehovah’s people because of their faithful stand as Christians. There have been cases in Canada that involve the blood issue. In the United States there have been court cases involving the right to preach from house to house. The victory over the City of Ladue (Missouri) in 1979 fortified the many United States Supreme Court decisions that were won by Jehovah’s Witnesses more than 30 years before, confirming that Jehovah’s people have a legal right to perform the house-to-house ministry of evangelism.

Also in this year the Supreme Court of India confirmed that one of Jehovah’s Witnesses had a right to desist from becoming involved with nationalistic exercises as to his secular work. In 1980 the Supreme Court of Argentina in mid-July confirmed that one of Jehovah’s Witnesses, an alien, could not be denied a permanent residency in the country on the basis of his religious affiliation. Those who appear before courts and rulers for Christ’s sake do not stand without a helper.​—Mark 13:9-11.

GRATEFUL TO JEHOVAH FOR ANOTHER FRUITFUL YEAR

The Governing Body has deemed it a privilege to present this stewardship report of the worldwide work of Jehovah’s people during 1980. The current number of 16 members have served as a unified Governing Body and also as members of its several committees as described in detail in the 1977 Yearbook, pages 258 and 259.

We are deeply grateful to Jehovah for using his people yet another year as workers in his global vineyard in this time of the end. (Matt. 13:39) The number of harvest workers has increased to 2,272,278, which brings us joy. Yet we pray as Jesus instructed. We “beg the Master of the harvest to send out workers into his harvest.” (Luke 10:2) So for 1981 many more associates are anticipated to assist in this happy preaching service.

As stewards of what has been entrusted to our care, we express appreciation to all the brothers worldwide for their cooperation in making this annual report possible. With full hearts we also give thanks to Jehovah our God and to his wifelike heavenly organization under the leadership of our King and High Priest, Jesus Christ, for their loving care, protection and unfailing provision for our spiritual nourishment. Joyfully we join in singing the song of Moses and the song of the Lamb:

“Great and wonderful are your works, Jehovah God, the Almighty. Righteous and true are your ways, King of eternity. Who will not really fear you, Jehovah, and glorify your name, because you alone are loyal? For all the nations will come and worship before you, because your righteous decrees have been made manifest.”​—Rev. 15:3, 4.

Your brothers,

Governing Body of Jehovah’s Witnesses

Yeartext for 1981

“Your loyal ones will bless you. About the glory of your kingship they will talk.”​—Ps. 145:10, 11.

What a great, grand and glorious God Jehovah is! Most fittingly the psalmist David felt impelled to ‘exalt, praise and bless’ Jehovah and to make declaration about his kingship, his mighty acts, his graciousness, his dignity, his mercy and his goodness! And what a comfort it is to know that our God is always near to those who call upon him in trueness, and who fear to displease him! Generously he satisfies the rightful desires of all his faithful servants and justly guards and preserves all those who love him.​—See Psalm 145.

To be loyal means to adhere tenaciously to one’s God, one’s principles and one’s ruler in spite of pressures or temptations to deflect. Loyalty is a quality that applies in all relations of confidence and trust. It applies to husbands and wives in the marital relationship, and to children and parents. Revelation 15:4 tells of those who ‘fear Jehovah and glorify his name because he alone is loyal.’ King David appreciated Jehovah’s exemplary loyalty, for he wrote: “With someone loyal you will act in loyalty.”​—Ps. 18:25.

How can Jehovah God’s servants today manifest their loyalty? First of all by their upright conduct, producing the ninefold fruitage of God’s spirit in their lives, and doing so in spite of temptations coming from within and without. (Gal. 5:22, 23) And secondly, loyalty requires all these to do as David of old did, make known Jehovah’s marvelous qualities, his kingship and his wonderful works on their behalf.

How many reasons we have to bless and praise Jehovah! A knowledge of Jehovah God, of his attributes, his purposes and his will for us; a warm personal relationship with our God, including the blessed privilege of prayer; the joys of associating with our brothers at congregation meetings and at larger gatherings, such as the past year’s “Divine Love” District Conventions. And then there are the many opportunities that come our way to make known to others the things we have learned, by witnessing both formally and informally. Every day it is our privilege to extol Jehovah for his qualities and his goodness toward us, at least in our hearts and among ourselves. And if it be within our power may we, along with God’s organized people, never let a week go by without availing ourselves of the privilege to ‘bless Jehovah and to talk about the glory of his kingship’ to outsiders.