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Girding for an Urgent Work—at “Peace on Earth” AssembliesThe Watchtower—1970 | February 15
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Over 2,000 of Hawaii’s approximately 3,000 Witnesses volunteered their services to make the “Peace on Earth” Assembly in Honolulu a time of joy and happiness to hundreds of delegates, many of them from foreign lands and far-flung islands. They surely succeeded. And what a pleasure it was to sit in the International Center with so many others of different national background, all peacefully united in love for Bible truth!
Foreign visitors participated in delightful tours, one of them to the Watch Tower Society’s branch office. They learned that J. F. Rutherford, former president of the Society, visited here in 1935 and initiated the establishment of a branch office complete with an auditorium that was called a “Kingdom Hall.” That was the start of the practice, now widely known around the earth, of calling the meeting places of Jehovah’s witnesses Kingdom Halls.
Visitors were also introduced to many Witnesses from the Micronesian islands. Groups representing the Marshall Islands, Ponape, Yap, Guam, Saipan and Palau extended greetings in their respective native tongues. Some of these islanders sang Kingdom songs delightfully in their own languages.
A feature writer in Honolulu’s largest newspaper, The Sunday Star-Bulletin & Advertiser, wrote: “Jehovah’s witnesses impressed more people here than any other big convention outfit that ever has come to town. . . . Neat, clean, well-behaved, polite . . . All sorts of people—black and white, ranging to those well off and those of very modest means . . . They have kept the HIC [International Center] immaculate and even picked up rubbish that all other convention-goers left.”
Even more outstanding, however, is the willing spirit of the youth of Hawaii’s Witnesses to leave these beautiful islands and take up missionary work in other lands. It is believed that Hawaii has contributed more missionaries than any other state in the Union.
The assembled delegates derived immense satisfaction from the knowledge that the greatest witness ever had been given in Hawaii and the name of Jehovah had made a tremendous impact on the population of Honolulu and its environs.
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Girding for an Urgent Work—at “Peace on Earth” AssembliesThe Watchtower—1970 | February 15
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Hawaii 2,980 15,443 314
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