POSTWAR EXPANSION BEGINS

In November 1945, William Johnson was assigned to Jamaica as its first Gilead-trained missionary. He suggested some small changes in the only congregation in Kingston. For example, the brothers and sisters had been standing up every time they commented at the meetings, and at the Service Meeting the congregation servant always acted as chairman and sat on the platform for the entire meeting. Brother Johnson pointed out that these things were not necessary, and the brothers gladly accepted the suggestions.

Shortly before the visit of Brothers Knorr and Franz, two more Gilead missionaries arrived​—Lee Dillon and Aleck Bangle. They immediately began their missionary work in the capital city of Kingston, with good response from the people.

RAPID INCREASE

The East Congregation, with missionary Aleck Bangle as congregation servant, increased from 26 publishers in April 1946 to 67 by August of the same year.

THE ROLE OF GILEAD MISSIONARIES

The role played by Gilead missionaries in the expansion of the Kingdom work cannot be overemphasized. A total of 29 missionaries were assigned to Jamaica from 1946 to 1962. Over that period the number of Kingdom preachers increased from 899 to 4,465. And the number of congregations in Kingston, where most of the missionaries were assigned, increased from one to 14 during that 16-year period. Today there is only one of the original group still in missionary service here​—Aleck Bangle, who has completed 38 years of faithful service in Jamaica and now serves as coordinator of the Branch Committee. The need for missionary service has decreased greatly because the country is well served by 153 regular and special pioneers. But the groundwork was laid by the missionaries, some of whom have been reassigned to other countries where the need is greater.

The missionaries were able to penetrate the territories where the more affluent class resided and where local publishers rarely received a hearing. Thereby a good witness was given to this formerly unreachable class.