for those interested to get to meetings and get better attention as to field organization. This arrangement was received with enthusiasm, for the brethren in Mexico are expansion-minded.

Monday was devoted to problems pertaining to the office work and generally in the field. There are nine circuits in the country of Mexico. These are being increased so that better arrangements can be made for circuit assemblies. A circuit servant in Mexico must be physically strong and mature in the truth. Getting from company to company in some of the out-of-the-way places involves much walking, traveling by horseback, sleeping out in the open, enduring all kinds of hardships, never being sure of good drinking water, contending with the threat of malaria and other diseases, etc. But the brethren in Mexico, like the apostle Paul, are willing to endure all things for Christ’s sake. Many little groups of isolated publishers need the service of the circuit servant, and arrangements were made to get in touch with them and give them regular visits. Three and a half years ago Brother Knorr visited Mexico, and in that year they had an average of 3,094 publishers. They have nearly doubled that now with an average in 1949 of 5,547, reaching a peak during the year of 6,733. Companies have increased from 223 to 306. All this expansion has made the brethren rejoice in the Lord’s blessing upon their work. There are over 200 pioneers devoting full time to the service, many getting out into isolated places.

Opposition to the work comes mainly from the Catholic Church. It has for years been their policy in Mexico to keep the people ignorant, whereas Jehovah’s witnesses for some time now have been helping the illiterate to read and write. The government of Mexico has put forth vigorous efforts to help the people in their education. This, of course, has not found favor in the eyes of the Catholics. They have been able to hold their great population throughout the world by keeping people ignorant, but they are in for a day of reckoning. While the Church has been thrown out of government and has little to say in affairs of state, it still does wield great influence over the people who are born into Catholic families and know nothing else but the Catholic system. The Church would like to regain her lost power in Mexico, but the present generation can recall clearly the evil it has done to the nation. Prominent are the remains of some of the church institutions which, if allowed to remain, will always remind the people of the tyranny of religious inquisition that once existed in Mexico. There was nothing “holy” about the years the Catholic Church ruled that land. In one of the sixteenth-century convents, still in a fair state of preservation, we find beautiful gardens covering subterranean dungeons where religious prisoners were chained in pitch darkness. In their fiendishness the priests devised a method of driving prisoners insane by dropping water on their heads. Still preserved is the lime pit where bodies of the victims were destroyed. Places like this speak for themselves as to the “holy years” of Catholic rule.

It is good to see the Word of God now getting into the homes of the people. And the Mexicans are rejoicing and making known the good news of salvation, ‘letting God be true though every man be proved a liar.’ On Monday, the 19th, Brother Knorr left Mexico City to take up his work in Guatemala, after spending a most pleasant time with the Mexican brethren.

GUATEMALA

Flying over Guatemalan territory to the capital, Guatemala city, to the left of the plane Brother Morgan could see three huge volcanoes: Agua, Acatenango and Fuego, Fuego (meaning “fire”) being the only active one of the three. It was about 2:20 p.m. when the plane passed over Lake Amatitlan at an altitude of only a few hundred feet and then settled down on the paved airstrip south of Guatemala city, one of the finest airports in Central America. Immigration checking was very brief, but Brother Morgan’s baggage was retained at the airport for four hours in order to fumigate it. This is a government precaution against the spread of hoof-and-mouth disease among cattle. Each passenger also had to walk through chemically treated wet sawdust for the same purpose; and all had their baggage handled in the same manner. But within twenty minutes or so the Branch servant and all the Gilead graduates and company publishers who had come to greet the visitors from New York were on their way to the Branch home at 11 Avenida Norte No. 8, Guatemala city. On the way home we passed the site where is being constructed a gigantic sports center. This is being rushed to completion for the Latin-American sports games early in 1950. Right up to date is Guatemala city, with its many busses and fine new cars. At the same time alongside the “new age” are the many yoked oxen, horse-drawn carts and barefooted Indians carrying huge loads on their backs and heads. The fine missionary home consists of seven bedrooms and a modern bath, along with a kitchen and three patios. The largest patio is enclosed and forms an ideal Kingdom Hall that will comfortably seat 200 persons. This certainly provides an excellent headquarters for the Lord’s work in Guatemala.

On Wednesday morning the Branch servant, Brother Munsterman, and Brother Morgan emplaned for Quetzaltenango, a city to the northwest of the capital with a population of about 35,000. Here a missionary home is located and the brethren have been doing good work. For that afternoon they had arranged a public meeting in the Teatro Zarco, one of the town’s several movie houses. The Gilead graduates were a bit apprehensive, wondering what would happen and how many people would come to a midweek meeting. There is no company in Quetzaltenango as yet, and the previous high attendance figure for a public meeting was only thirty-seven. At 3 p.m. there were not more than twenty or thirty persons present, and so it was decided to wait fifteen minutes more to allow some people time to arouse themselves from the midday siesta. By the time the talk “Liberty to the Captives” got well under way there were 145 persons listening. Everyone was delighted with the attendance, and it was hoped that this meeting would give impetus to the work in Quetzaltenango. A company is being formed there now. Thursday morning all the Gilead graduates returned to the capital with Brothers Morgan and Munsterman to attend the convention there.

It was reported that Guatemala city presented a strange sight on Wednesday evening. After 6 p.m. many fires appeared in the streets, two or three to a block. The church bells began to toll incessantly, and the air resounded with the explosion of fireworks. This was the eve of the annual celebration of the immaculate conception of the virgin Mary, and hundreds of fires were lighted everywhere to frighten away the evil spirits. In some cases hot coals are taken into the homes so that no evil spirit will take refuge there. It was observed on Thursday that a large image of the “virgin” was carried from one church to another. Following this image were eight other images, all supposed to represent angels. On Friday night this ceremony was repeated when the “virgin” and her angels were returned to the church of origin. It is a very ceremonious procession and is made somewhat weird in the night by the carrying of lanterns and lighted candles on poles. People line the streets to observe the procession, and many move along with it, selling various kinds of foods and trinkets. The men who bear the statue of the “virgin” on their shoulders pay so much per block for the privilege of carrying her. And those who actually carry her back into the church building, which is considered the greatest privilege of the ceremony, pay the most money. This certainly emphasizes the need of liberty for the captives.

Thursday night a good service meeting was had at the Salón del Reino in Guatemala city, and on Friday evening 184 brethren were present for the opening of the assembly. There were young and old, the oldest being a brother of 80 years. He had traveled 120 miles to attend the convention and felt this might be his last because, as he said, “I’m getting rather old to travel.” But his vision of the Kingdom is clear and he is an active publisher. It is his earnest desire to have help in the preaching in his town. One sister with eight children, who also manages several Bible studies each week, was there too. Great zeal is shown by many in preaching the Word.

Saturday was devoted to field service, principally the distribution of 60,000 handbills which had just arrived from Brooklyn on Thursday. In the afternoon and evening there was a full program of talks. Sunday morning seven brothers and nine sisters symbolized their consecration in a small pool in the park on the edge of town. The attendance of 425 at the public meeting on Sunday afternoon made glad the hearts of all the brethren. This was a figure 173 more than any previous public meeting in the country. All agreed that this was the best convention yet in Guatemala.

Monday, December 12, after dinner, all the brethren at the Branch home piled into the bus that was to take Brother Morgan to the airport; and shortly, with our driver leaning on the horn, we were under way. Sometimes it seems that the brakes are a safety factor second only to the horn. As we passed down the streets we glimpsed the beautiful National Palace, an architectural credit to the city. But it still bears the marks of the last revolution, for its pretty light-green stone surface is pock-marked with small shell holes; and here and there one sees a large hole. However, we were soon at the airport and it seemed as though the visit was all too brief. Here again the brethren were happy that the visit was not completely over, because Brother Knorr was coming in a few days. He arrived on the 20th of December.

The plane Brother Knorr took out of Mexico City left promptly and, having a good tail wind, it arrived early at the Guatemalan airport. He landed and was going through the customary procedure for entering the country, but none of the brethren had arrived to meet him. They were all very much embarrassed when they did arrive and found Brother Knorr already there. All were very cheerful, though, and one would think from the joy they all expressed that a convention was on in full force. They had planned a meeting for that night. All the people of good-will had been invited. So there was arranging of chairs at the Kingdom Hall to be done; and we were delighted to see that 225 persons turned out. The subject discussed was the yeartext, “Preach the word,” and it was pointed out how important it is for the brethren to prepare to be on their own. They should not work just because the Society had a Branch office there, or a missionary home; but each person in the truth should be ready to continue should all be scattered as the brethren in Jerusalem were when persecution became heavy against the early church. All should be ready to “preach the word” everywhere. While there has been no opposition to the preaching in Guatemala, and the message is received well, it must be expected that the Devil will bring pressure to bear from some source to disturb the tranquillity of the organization.

There were many problems to discuss with regard to the Branch and the work yet to be done in Guatemala. There are more than 3 ¹/₂ million people in the country, and at the present time there are 188 publishers on the average, with a peak of 218 last year. However, expansion is very noticeable in Guatemala, for at the time of the last visit there were only twenty-five publishers on the average in the whole country. That was three and one-half years ago. Plans were made this time to send more Gilead graduates to Guatemala, probably ten to work in other cities. And the graduates of Gilead now in the country are going to work not only towns they are in, but on specified days in certain months they will move out into some of the villages to see what can be done to establish companies. More visits will be made by the Branch servant to the four companies already established, and to a number of isolated brethren. There is a lot to do in Guatemala and the brethren are anxious to do it. After spending two happy days in Guatemala, the president of the Society was on his way to San Salvador, following the route his secretary had taken.

Letter

FURTHER ON BLOOD TRANSFUSION

October 28, 1949

Dear Madam:

Answering yours of the 14th instant re blood transfusion: The method of giving blood transfusions today may not follow the normal human procedure as when slaughterhouse men drink the warm blood of animals they have killed or as when people eat blutwurst or blood sausage with its congealed blood. But just because the manner of administering the blood is different is not proving that God’s law concerning blood does not cover or apply to transfusion of HUMAN blood. Whether by eating or drinking or transfusing blood, in all cases it is basically the transferring of blood from one organism human or animal to another organism,