Branch Letter

Dear Kingdom Publishers:

When the Bethel family heard Brother Knorr’s report at the breakfast table on what had been accomplished world wide this past service year, every one of us was overjoyed. Magazines printed: over 471,000,000, up more than 70,000,000 over the previous year. Bound books printed: 51,000,000, up more than 17 ¹⁄₂ million. The peak of publishers reached 2,021,432, with more than double that number, 4,550,457, attending the Memorial. That is over 550,000 more than attended the Memorial the year before! But the real thrill came when we heard that 297,872 had been baptized! Here certainly is evidence of an ingathering of the “great crowd” seen by the apostle John as survivors of the coming “great tribulation.”

Details of this report as well as an account of the modern-day history of Jehovah’s witnesses for the past hundred years are found in the 1975 Yearbook. Don’t fail to get your copy. We feel sure that you will want extra copies for relatives and neighbors too.

The Bethel family also heard a report from Brother F. W. Franz about his recent visit to certain countries to the south. After attending the Trinidad district assembly he spoke at special meetings in São Paulo and Iguazú Falls, Brazil, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in Asunción, Paraguay, and in La Paz, Bolivia. All together, the attendance at these gatherings was upward of 25,000.

Brother Leo Greenlees, also of the governing body, told the Bethel family about his recent visit to the Middle East. In one of the countries where the work is banned, after he overcame difficulties in contacting the brothers, a meeting was quickly arranged. Though it got under way after midnight, they were glad to attend. This was a very special treat for the 50 present, most of whom had never met someone from the Brooklyn Bethel family.

The new arrangement for the Kingdom Ministry School is working well. There are eleven of these “traveling schools,” compared with the former five permanently located ones in the United States. Besides being a much more convenient arrangement for the brothers attending, it allows some to attend who formerly could not do so. About 600 are benefiting from this course each month instead of the 250 under the old arrangement, which means that within two years all the present elders could attend. The forward movement of the organization is a pleasure to behold, giving all of us added reason to keep on exulting in Jehovah.

Your brothers,

BROOKLYN BRANCH OFFICE