topic of conversation for conventioners. Many were heard to long for the time when they can have some hours of solitude to become absorbed in the thrilling new book.

LONDON, STOCKHOLM, MUNICH, MILAN

Upon arriving at the convention grounds at Twickenham’s Rugby Union Grounds, the conventioners noticed the novel way the parking lots adjacent to the stadium had been converted into a little city. There were 244 tents, each one with 24 occupants who lived here during the eight-day assembly. In well-organized fashion, these tents were all laid out in named streets and appeared as a small city.

For the public talk on Sunday, July 21, there was a clear blue sky and the stadium overflowed with a crowd of 50,111.

Taking advantage of the time in London the conventioners also visited the British Museum, to see objects of interest to Bible students. Nearly 7,000 conventioners were conducted through the Museum during the mornings of the assembly. They saw the famed Sinaitic and Alexandrine Bible manuscripts and the Nabonidus Chronicle, which helps date the fall of Babylon in the year 539 B.C.

Simultaneous with the London assembly was one in Stockholm, Sweden. Here talks in general were translated into four languages: Danish, Norwegian, Finnish and Swedish. To avoid disturbance from the other languages, each section had a number of specially directed loudspeakers. The beautiful platform in the center of the lawn was shaped like a four-leaf clover. From each of the four “leaves,” the conventioners from the four Nordic countries could hear the program in their own languages simultaneously. At the public talk, given by F. W. Franz, the Society’s vice-president, an estimated number of 3,000 goodwill persons from the Stockholm area were present among the crowd of 25,160 persons who heard this inspiring lecture.

The Around-the-World Assembly next moved to Munich and Milan, where meetings were held simultaneously. It was expected that the attendance for the public talk at Munich might reach 100,000 persons. This figure was not only reached but surpassed, there being 107,164 persons in attendance, or just 319 less than at New York. Since there was no hall large enough in Munich to accommodate 100,000 persons, it was necessary for the Witnesses to change the vast Theresien meadows into a huge Kingdom Hall, with the sky as a roof.

It was an exciting day for the conventioners at Milan, Italy, when on Wednesday, July 24, the Society’s president released the New World Translation in six languages. Four of them were the official languages of the assembly, so practically all present were able to receive a copy with great joy and satisfaction. The public talk, delivered by F. W. Franz, was translated simultaneously into four languages. This hope-inspiring discourse brought rejoicing to the 9,864 Italians, 8,454 French, 1,444 Spanish and 754 Portuguese who listened, each one in his own tongue, making up a total attendance of 20,516. It was estimated that about 4,000 of these were people of Milan who had responded to the invitations.

While at Milan, as at other cities, the around-the-world conventioners took out time to share the “everlasting good news” with the people of the city. The conventioners had opportunity to talk with persons who had never been visited by the Witnesses before. One Japanese Witness, a sister, reported how an Italian householder hugged and kissed her when she learned that this Witness had come all the way from the Orient to bring her the good news of God’s kingdom. It gave the Italian minister who was with the Japanese Witness a fine opportunity to explain God’s truths.

From Milan and Munich, the assembly was scheduled to move on to Athens, Greece. A one-day assembly was scheduled for July 30. The Athens police had given the Witnesses a permit for the assembly, but just a few days before some 1,400 convention delegates converged on Athens, the government canceled the permit and banned the assembly. The Greek government disgraced itself by giving in to the demands of the Greek Orthodox clergy, who repeatedly demanded the ban on the assembly. But the ban did not seem to dampen the enthusiasm of the Greek Witnesses, who were grateful that so many traveling conventioners came to Athens to spend a few days with them.

The conventioners used their time wisely by visiting points of Biblical interest, such as ancient Corinth, the Acropolis and Mars Hill. It was most thrilling for them to stand on top of Mars Hill where the apostle Paul stood and spoke the words of Acts 17:22-31 to the mighty ones of Athens who did not know the true God. Sloping off to the one side of Mars Hill was a sort of terraced terrain forming a natural amphitheater arrangement where people could gather and view and listen to the one speaking.

Leaving Greece, the conventioners winged their way to Beirut, Lebanon. Here the Witnesses were not allowed to have an assembly, but they were permitted to meet in their Kingdom Halls. A schedule was worked out whereby some of the Witnesses traveling with the Around-the-World Assembly, and especially the speakers from the Society’s headquarters, spoke at these Kingdom Halls. Thus the Witnesses in Lebanon heard the principal assembly talks. The public talk “When God Is King over All the Earth” was given at various Kingdom Halls to a total audience of 914 persons.

While in Lebanon the conventioners had opportunity to visit the famed cedars of Lebanon. This was quite an adventurous trip for them up a very winding, mountainous road until they reached a small group of the cedars. They are a squatty tree, 50 to 80 feet tall. Apparently they are not of the gigantic size they were centuries ago, but it was a real pleasure for the assembly delegates to stop and have their lunch under the cedars of Lebanon and to view snow-capped Mount Hermon. They could now appreciate better the location of places in the Scriptures, after having been eyewitnesses to these things.

VISIT TO THE HOLY LAND

The next stop of the around-the-world conventioners was Jerusalem, in Jordan. Though an assembly was not scheduled for Jordan, the stop was profitable, since the conventioners were very anxious to see Jerusalem and to experience walking in this area where God’s own Son walked and where the apostles had carried on Kingdom preaching. For many it was a major highlight of the around-the-world trip. It amazed many of the conventioners that the terrain of the Holy Land had great variance. Some had expected it to be lightly hilly and rolling; but the land was really mountainous. Traveling from Jerusalem to Bethlehem or Bethany required going down a winding mountain road and back up another similar road.

The conventioners often photographed Jerusalem. Across the Kidron Valley they saw the Garden of Gethsemane. Only a small area remains, and on the rest of the ground are two large churches. It was most interesting for the conventioners to study out the terrain, visualizing the activities of the early Christians. They also visited the Jordan River and the Dead Sea, which is 1,297 feet below sea level. Seeking to find a little refreshment, some of the traveling conventioners walked to the shores of the Dead Sea and were going to wade in it, but they found the water to be not only warm, but hot and with no refreshing quality at all.

INDIA, BURMA AND THAILAND

Returning to Lebanon from Jordan the Around-the-World Assembly travelers moved to Delhi, India, where all 583 of them were housed in the government-owned Ashoka Hotel, India’s prestige hotel. The place of assembly was also a fine one, the impressive Vigyan Bhavan (House of Knowledge), India’s prestige hall. Each chair has a writing table and is equipped with earphones, with selector switch so that one can switch to any of four languages, in addition to the speech from the platform. About half the hall was used by Indian delegates who listened to talks in Kanarese, Malayalam, Tamil and Urdu-Hindi. Attendance at the public talk was the largest the Witnesses ever experienced in India, as 1,296 persons rejoiced in hearing “When God Is King over All the Earth.”

Then the “Everlasting Good News” Assembly moved to Rangoon, Burma, and Bangkok, Thailand, both scheduled for August 8-11. The public talk in Rangoon was held at 6 p.m. Saturday; and when heavy rain swept over the city an hour before the talk, it appeared that prospects for a record attendance were bleak. Despite this, a steady flow of people soared the attendance figure to 603 persons. In Bangkok, attendance for the public talk reached 961, about 200 of them being newly interested persons.

THE NORTHERN ROUTE

From Thailand, the Around-the-World Assembly took two routes, the northern and the southern. The conventioners who took the northern route went next to Hong Kong, where the assembly opened August 13. For the public talk, an audience of many local Chinese Witnesses and goodwill persons, totaling 1,180 in all, listened attentively to this thrilling lecture given by the president of the Society and his Chinese interpreter.

From Hong Kong the assembly moved to Manila, in the Philippines. Here the Witnesses, in advertising the public talk, used 5,000 placards, 500,000 handbills, 50,000 posters, 2,000 bus signs, 46 jeep signs and 32 billboards. Provision was made at this assembly for the audience to listen in Tagalog, Cebu-Visayan and Ilocano. On Sunday afternoon for the public talk, the sun shone brightly on a tremendous crowd of 37,806 jamming the stadium. A stadium official commented, “I have spent many years here, but this is the first time I have ever seen the stadium filled.”

On to Shou Feng, Taiwan, and here the Around-the-World Assembly had an unusual setting. It was the public school grounds, situated at the foot of mountains covered with the lush green foliage so typical of Taiwan, an ideal setting to learn about the time when God’s kingdom will make the whole earth a paradise. The public talk, delivered in the Chinese language and translated into the local Ami dialect, was heard by a fine audience of 1,566 persons.

Next stop for the “Everlasting Good News” Assembly was Kyoto, Japan, a city rich in Buddhist tradition, with 3,500 temples. As in the other assembly cities, the visiting Witnesses shared in door-to-door witnessing and also toured Kyoto. At temples and shrines they saw in Buddhism many of the appendages of worship of Babylonish origin that are common also in Christendom—holy water, incense, candles, rosaries, images, haloed “saints,” and representations of “hell.”

From Japan the assembly moved to Seoul, Korea. When the around-the-world conventioners arrived in Korea, they were supplied with convention badges written in the Korean language, including the delegate’s name and home country; thus any Korean could immediately read and know where the delegates came from and what they represented. The assembly turned out to be the greatest event in the history of the New World society in Korea. The assembly was held in the beautiful Citizen’s Hall, where Brother N. H. Knorr gave the public talk that drew a record crowd of 8,975 persons, including 1,412 at an overflow hall.

THE SOUTHERN ROUTE

While 463 of the around-the-world conventioners took the northern route, 120 chose to go with the assembly via the southern route, the first stop after Thailand being Singapore. Here the conventioners took a tour through Chinatown and saw such items of religious interest as “hell-money”—money that is burned by the worshiper and which is supposed to help the relative or friend in a supposed fiery hell. The public talk at Singapore was attended by 560 persons, the largest theocratic assembly ever held in Singapore. At the next stop, Bandung, Indonesia, the assembly likewise had a record attendance, with 752 persons coming to the public talk. The previous peak for a public talk had been 451.

From Indonesia, the “Everlasting Good News” Assembly moved to Melbourne, Australia. The climactic day at this assembly was described by the Australian magazine The Bulletin, in its issue of August 31, 1963: “Melbourne has seen some marvelous conferences . . . but I don’t think we have ever seen anything like the ‘Everlasting Good News’ Assembly of the Jehovah’s Witnesses. . . . The time was almost 7:45 p.m. The great moment, the climax of the assembly, had arrived; Brother F. W. Franz, from Brooklyn, New York, vice-president of the Watch Tower Society, was to give his address, ‘When God Is King over All the Earth.’ There were over 12,000 jamming into the huge pavilion and the sight was almost unbelievable . . . There was huge applause from the 12,000 in the sheep pavilion as they clapped the Everlasting Good News.” The actual attendance was 13,142, including 682 who listened in German, Greek and Italian.

Auckland, New Zealand, was the next stop for the Around-the-World Assembly. When people learned that Jehovah’s witnesses had hired New Zealand’s largest theater, the Civic, for the “Everlasting Good News” Assembly, many said, “Unheard of,” or “How did you do it?” This was an unprecedented move—the stopping of films to make way for a five-day religious convention. But the theater was not even large enough for the assembly, and the 2,000-seat Auckland Town Hall was tied in with the Civic Theater to accommodate the crowds. Situated on the main street, these buildings provided an excellent place to hold what proved to be the largest religious assembly in the history of New Zealand. On the day of the public lecture the assembly sites were packed to capacity with 6,005 persons.

During the Auckland assembly, as at the others, the around-the-world conventioners took time out to share in telling the good news with the people of Auckland. Many householders were amazed that people on a world tour would take time off from sight-seeing to preach God’s kingdom. The people of Auckland were also impressed by the conduct of the Witnesses. The Civic Theater manager, for instance, said: “You are the best organized and by far the best behaved people I have seen.”

Then on to Suva, Fiji, where the “Everlasting Good News” Assembly program was presented in four languages: English, French, Samoan and Fijian. Delegates came from seventeen different lands, including Western Samoa, American Samoa, Tahiti, Tonga, Niue, New Caledonia and New Hebrides. The around-the-world travelers here were treated to a special island meal of tasty native dishes; they saw the genuine uncommercialized hospitality of these Pacific Island people. A half hour before the public talk the audience was treated with singing of Kingdom songs by Samoan and Fijian choirs, dressed in national costumes. At the public talk a record crowd of 1,080 heard this hope-stimulating lecture.

HAWAII AND PASADENA

At the next stop, Honolulu, Hawaii, the conventioners on both the northern and southern routes converged, along with 1,200 more delegates from the mainland of the U.S.A., Canada and Alaska, for an assembly at the Waikiki Shell, an open-air amphitheater, situated at the foot of the Diamond Head, just two blocks off Waikiki beach. The Shell has a backdrop of lovely coconut palms. Amid this ideal setting, the message “When God Is King over All the Earth” was delivered by the Society’s president to an audience of 6,189 persons. It was the largest convention ever held by any organization in the Hawaiian Islands; moreover, it was the first time that the public talk was televised. The estimated viewing audience was between 60,000 to 100,000, covering the entire Hawaiian Island chain.

The Around-the-World Assembly reached its conclusion with an eight-day assembly in southern California’s famous Rose Bowl in Pasadena. By the afternoon of the opening day 80,543 conventioners had assembled at the huge stadium, English-speaking delegates in the Rose Bowl and Spanish delegates in an adjoining ball park. They had come from all over the United States and many other countries, and for eight joy-filled days they feasted on the same spiritual provisions that their brothers around the world had enjoyed. How happy they were when 2,496 new ministers were baptized on Saturday morning! Their joy was increased the following day when many of their friends gathered with them for the public talk, swelling the attendance to 118,447!

Another great thrill for the conventioners was when Brother Knorr spent three and a half hours describing the tremendous success of each one of the completed assemblies. Jehovah’s blessing has resulted in a great crowd of people from all nations being gathered to His organization, he emphasized. Why, just during the seventy-one days of the Around-the-World Assembly, 16,267 new ministers were baptized and 570,932 persons assembled to hear the public talk!

Brother Knorr therefore urged his vast audience of dedicated Christians to assume their responsibility to care for the thousands of sheeplike persons Jehovah God was gathering to His organization. He encouraged them to imbibe the spirit of the missionaries, 805 of whom were able to be in attendance at the assemblies. After outlining future assembly plans, Brother Knorr concluded the Around-the-World Assembly with heartfelt admonition to stick to Jehovah’s organization.

Besides the cities tied in with the around-the-world tour, there were other assemblies, such as the one at Haifa, Israel, where 115 persons heard the public talk, and Nicosia, Cyprus, where 702 rejoiced in hearing “When God Is King over All the Earth.” The complete details of all the assemblies will be published soon in a 200-page convention report, with many pictures.

Yes, around the world, thousands of persons rejoiced over the benefits of the epic “Everlasting Good News” Assembly. For the around-the-world conventioners, it was marvelous to see how the New World society is expanding throughout the globe. A great number of people have gained access to God’s truth and are rejoicing in their being released from the bondage of Babylon the Great and can thereby make their lives happy, as they enjoy sharing in the “everlasting good news,” to Jehovah’s glory.

Questions From Readers

● Does Matthew 24:19 apply to those inside the Christian congregation or to those outside the congregation?—E. N., United States.

Pregnant women and those with new babies would encounter hardship because of the difficult times foretold by Christ when he said at Matthew 24:19: “Woe to the pregnant women and those suckling a baby in those days!” True to his words, extreme adversity befell pregnant women and those suckling babies when Roman forces descended upon Jerusalem and dealt the Jews a crushing blow A.D. 70. Thousands of persons suffered and died. Famine prevailed, and it alone was terrible. Concerning the treatment then meted out by the seditious to their own fellow Jews, Josephus wrote:

“The old men, who held their food fast, were beaten; and if the women hid what they had within their hands, their hair was torn for so doing; nor was there any commiseration shown either to the aged or to the infants, but they lifted up children from the ground as they hung upon the morsels they had gotten, and shook them down upon the floor.”—Wars of the Jews, Book V, Chapter X, ¶3.

Imagine mothers standing by, forced to look