great extent, if at all. Jehovah’s witnesses world-wide were anxious to support this new arrangement and made sufficient contributions to the Society to increase this missionary work. To this day Jehovah’s witnesses have supported the missionary work financially, and the chart shows what was done in the different sections of the world in the year 1942, to compare with 1947, 1952 and 1953. You can see from this report alone how the expansion work reached out into new fields. Observe, too, the increase in the number of Jehovah’s witnesses and the hours they spent during these years in talking. The last column shows the number of graduates of Gilead working in the different countries in these years.

9. (a) What are the plans and determination of Jehovah’s witnesses for 1954? (b) How many persons attended the 1953 Memorial celebration? What is their desire, and how can they be helped to realize it?

⁹ Jehovah’s witnesses have big plans for the year 1954, plans designed to praise Jehovah’s name and make it known to even greater numbers of persons. Their determination is, to quote their principal thought for the year, “‘All day long will I bless thee, and praise thy name forever and ever.’ (Psalm 145:2, AT)” It is their hope to aid many people of good will in their quest for truth and righteousness. We now see thousands upon thousands, month by month, taking their stand for Jehovah’s kingdom, and we see a great crowd coming from all nations, kindreds and tongues to Jehovah’s witnesses to hear the truth from God’s Word. At the Memorial celebration there were 742,565 persons, all of whom showed keen interest in the message we preach. They want to live now as a New World society. They must be taught and helped in this way to eternal life. As they come into the organization they must get rid of their old habits, the filthy things of the old world, and accept the pleasant and good things Jehovah God has for them to do. They are happy to do his will and to preach the Word. They rejoice that someone came to them and their ears were open to hear. Now they want to be doers of the Word, and not hearers only. They want to live so that ‘every day they can bless Jehovah and praise his name forever and ever.’ Will you “become doers of the word, and not hearers only”?

False Shepherd’s Flock Obtains Truth

As a result of the activity of Watch Tower missionaries in Recife, Brazil, members of an Evangelist church began asking their pastor many embarrassing questions. He told them that Jehovah’s witnesses were false prophets and that their teachings were not supported by the Bible. At their request a special representative of the Watch Tower Society called upon the pastor in his own church with practically all of his members present. When it became apparent that the pastor was unable to properly defend his position from the Scriptures, comments were heard from his members to the effect that Jehovah’s witnesses were teaching good doctrine. The owner of the hall in which the pastor conducted his services spoke up saying that it was more than just good doctrine, it was the truth and that he would like to learn more and become one of Jehovah’s witnesses.

Infuriated at this the pastor threatened that if they were going to listen to Jehovah’s witnesses he would get out. No one objecting, he stormed out shouting that he was taking the chairs, as these were his property. When the group was asked by Jehovah’s witnesses if they would like to hear more, the owner of the hall offered the use of the hall free and volunteered to assist in getting chairs. A Bible study was arranged for that soon became the talk of the district. For the first six months an average of forty attended the study, and eleven different ones already were sharing in telling others the good things they had learned.