VISITS BY BROTHER KNORR

Apart from his visits to attend the international assemblies, N. H. Knorr visited the Philippines on two other occasions during the 1960’s to check the branch. On the first occasion, in December of 1964, he addressed a crowd of 7,463 at the Manila Jockey Club. In May 1968 he spoke at the same place, and this time 9,669 were on hand from all parts of the country to hear his two-hour talk “You Must Not Forget.” Both of these visits were most beneficial and encouraging and did much to stimulate the work.

THE “PEACE ON EARTH” ASSEMBLY

During this last-mentioned visit of the Society’s president in May 1968, arrangements were already being finalized for the use of the Rizal Memorial Athletic Complex for the anticipated “Peace on Earth” International Assembly to be held from October 22 to 26, 1969. Since the expected attendance was so great that no one stadium in Manila could accommodate everyone, the branch office arranged for two adjacent stadiums to be rented, the Rizal Memorial Football Stadium and the Rizal Memorial Baseball Stadium. But even these stadiums, seating around 50,000 persons, were inadequate. The crowd that came to hear Brother Knorr’s talk “The Approaching Peace of a Thousand Years” reached 64,715, overflowing onto the lawn of the baseball stadium and onto the street outside, even filling the cafeteria site across the street.

The program was held mainly in the three major tongues, Cebuano, Iloko and Tagalog, each language group having its own platform. The main talks were delivered in English and were translated into these other languages. Delegates from twenty-five lands were present at the convention, among them Brother and Sister Knorr, Brother F. W. Franz, Brother and Sister Grant Suiter and others from the Brooklyn, Toronto, Strathfield and London Bethel families. It was a privilege to associate with these mature brothers and to hear some of them address the convention.

In July of 1971, Brother Knorr thrilled a crowd of 17,071 who had gathered to hear him at the Rodriguez Sports Center, in Marikina, Rizal. He announced that there was to be an enlargement of the printing activities of the Philippine branch. A new factory and dormitory were to be built. A rotary press and other printing equipment would be installed, and the Philippines would undertake responsibility for printing the Watchtower and Awake! magazines in English and the local languages.