Before the tours made their long journey to the Orient, a taste of good things to come was experienced in the Hawaiian Islands. The visitors were welcomed with the traditional Hawaiian warmth and hospitality.

Two international conventions were held there during July, with more than 17,500 attending. In addition to the upbuilding program centering on God’s purposes, the visitors were treated to a display of local flavor. On three of the days, before the program began, a one-hour presentation featured colorful songs and dances of Hawaii and other islands of the Pacific. Firsthand reports told of developments in places that many visitors had barely heard of, such as Truk, Ponape, Palau, Kosrae, and Yap.

One of the experiences related was from Yap, in the Western Pacific. An 18-year-old Witness greatly desired to attend the assembly in Hawaii, but had no way of making the money to pay the fare. Her father had died and her mother had abandoned her. To help her to attend the assembly, her fellow Witnesses gave her $500 (U.S.). Some of them started fishing, sometimes six to eight hours a night, selling the fish in the morning. Other Witnesses picked coconuts after work and sold them to stores. Also, they made copra to sell. From these activities an additional $900 (U.S.) was obtained, enabling the young Witness to attend assemblies, not only in Hawaii, but also in the continental United States and Canada​—her first trip off the tiny island of Yap!

[Picture on page 17]

At Honolulu, conventioners came from many lands, including these from Ponape in the Pacific