FAITH FINDS A WAY

For some, mere attendance at one of these conventions posed a test of faith. To illustrate: The spirit of victorious faith was embodied in the comment of a woman from the United States who attended the convention in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. She needs kidney dialysis treatment every other day. Not having a portable unit, for each treatment she would have to enter a hospital in that city. Would this stand in her way? No indeed! She said: “I’m not going to let a little thing like that stop me!” And it did not.

Victorious faith also was in evidence when a large family from the northern United States attended the Montreal convention. A fire had destroyed their home, and they were living in a school bus converted into a camper. The mother, a recently baptized Christian, adopted the attitude, “Jehovah will provide.” Most of the family’s meager funds were used to make the vehicle roadworthy, but its motor failed near Montreal and they incurred an expensive towing charge to the assembly’s Trailer City. Fellow Witnesses voluntarily paid half the towing bill and, upon learning that the motor could not be repaired, arranged for the family to travel back to their home region with friends. Trailer City residents also contributed enough for the family to purchase an equivalent vehicle on their return. The father, not yet baptized, was so overwhelmed by this spontaneous generosity that he wept, saying that he actually was experiencing the love he had read about in the publications of Jehovah’s Witnesses.​—John 13:34, 35.

Among the thousands present at the “Victorious Faith” International Conventions in New Orleans was a married sister who was there “alone” with her child of four and a six-month-old baby. “No one in my family is in the truth,” she writes, “and while I was there at the Superdome I felt as if I were in an oasis. I knew I’d enjoy it and expected it to be good, but I had no idea of the joy that awaited me to be in one place with all those brothers and sisters.” The specially recorded music also was touching. “When the first song was sung,” she admits, “I could not get through it because I was weeping with happiness.”

THEY MADE A CONQUEST BY FAITH

Those large convention audiences have included many persons who had just made a conquest by faith. How? By abandoning worldly ways, dedicating their lives to Jehovah God through Jesus Christ, and getting baptized in water. Of the 785,051 persons attending the 20 international conventions in the United States, 5,539 individuals were baptized. With the aid of God’s holy spirit, some of them had made profound personality changes.​—Col. 3:8-10.

For instance, one man and his wife were involved in drugs when she began studying the Bible in 1974. Whereas he continued to pursue that course of life, “she chose Jehovah’s way.” In 1976 the man was granted a divorce by the secular government, but in 1977 he lost all his worldly possessions. Then he remembered what his wife had said about the “last days.” (2 Tim. 3:1-5) After contacting many denominations of Christendom, he became convinced that they were not teaching Bible truth. So the man prayed to God to show him the true religion and to help him to find peace of mind. One day he obtained the address of the local Kingdom Hall and recalls:

“I went there that night and received a Bible free from one of the brothers, even though I offered to pay for it. My looks had convinced him that I needed a Bible, for my hair was way down to my waist. I began to read it that night and, after a while, I realized that I did not understand it. So I went back for further help, received a Truth book [The Truth That Leads to Eternal Life], and was told a brother would study with me. This I eagerly accepted.

“Since then, my former wife and I were remarried (on July 1, 1978) and were privileged to attend the ‘Victorious Faith’ Convention together with our sons, aged 16 and 14, where I was baptized [on July 22].”

What a delight it is to observe entire families manifest victorious faith in today’s world! Truly noteworthy was the very large family attending the Spanish international convention in Los Angeles, California. Bible truth began to filter to that family in 1917 when the grandfather started reading the publications of God’s people. Years later, the widowed grandmother moved to Mexico and began studying the Bible with some full-time Kingdom proclaimers in that country. Her 12 sons and daughters were required to participate by reading a book and giving a report on it. Today there are more than 150 members of this family displaying victorious faith, among them elders, ministerial servants and pioneers (full-time declarers of the “good news”). In fact, 106 members of this family attended the Spanish convention in Los Angeles.

VICTORIOUS FAITH AMONG THE YOUNG

If happy family life is to be attained, children and youths must not be ignored. Fittingly, then, an entire convention day is devoted to the theme “Youths, Be Examples in Faith.” (1 Tim. 4:12) Featured on the program this day is the faith-strengthening drama “Youths​—What Is Your Goal in Life?” It deals with the faith and unselfish godly service of the young man Timothy, an associate of the Christian apostle Paul.

Three natural brothers were among those participating in this drama at the “Victorious Faith” International Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. They all agreed that the “greatest testing point and strengthening of their faith came as a result of the death of their father after a sudden illness.” What had helped these youths to have victorious faith? One of them, Lawrence, answered: “The Truth has kept our family together. When my father was alive, he was strict with us. He used to gather us boys together to tell us things about life.” “And he always encouraged us to keep going forward,” added Lester, age 17. He also remarked: “Mother just continued in his steps and organized our family to continue onward in the faith.” Leon, age 20, who portrayed Timothy in the drama, said: “The [congregational] elders, who gave us companionship and invited us along in field service, helped us to keep our faith strong.” Yes, Christian youths do have faith that wins out in today’s world.

BENEFITS ALREADY IN EVIDENCE

These international conventions have been designed to promote victorious faith. Yet, those adhering to God’s Word already give evidence that they have benefited from its counsel. One motel owner in the San Francisco, California, area stated: “It was a pleasure to have my place filled with Jehovah’s Witnesses. May I say, your children are so well behaved. They don’t tinker with the ice machines, play around with the elevator, or run up and down the hallways as the children usually do.”

San Juan, Puerto Rico, also was a city in which Jehovah’s Witnesses gathered for international conventions. There one hotel manager stated: “I am especially happy with the children. We have absolutely no problems with them and they conduct themselves very well. In spite of the fact that there are more than 200 of Jehovah’s Witnesses as guests in the hotel, there is much silence. I wish that [all who] stayed here were Jehovah’s Witnesses. I have never seen anything like it, that so many children and adults could be so united and humble.”

A man who has for nine years been a security guard at a stadium used by Jehovah’s Witnesses in San Juan said: “I find that the organization is fantastic . . . I personally feel much at ease. I have no problems with you. Look, I don’t even carry a club. But it isn’t this way at other religious conventions. You treat me with great respect . . . Even the children obey me! That never happens!”

These gatherings of Jehovah’s Witnesses have attracted much attention. A contributing factor has been the prevailing spirit of brotherhood and unity. For instance, writing in The Times​—Picayune, Wesley Jackson described the Witnesses as “good people, leading extremely high moral lives, which makes them very family-oriented.” He also stated: “The many thousands of Witnesses here this week, and they come in all different shapes and sizes, colors and nationalities, are basically very devout Christians whose religious beliefs differ somewhat from the rest of the Christian community. That they are close-knit is obvious from the large throngs which have converged on this city for the first of two international rallies being held in New Orleans.”

The spirit of brotherhood and unity evident among Jehovah’s Witnesses also was noted in an editorial appearing in the Washington Afro-American of June 24, 1978. It stated:

“Although much progress has been made in improving race relations, some researchers have recently seen causes for discouragement. Their appraisal: few blacks and whites sit in the same church pews.

“During sessions of the ‘Victorious Faith’ International Convention of Jehovah’s Witnesses it is apparent such a division does not exist. The 48,000 delegates to the meeting under way at the R. F. K. Stadium eat, worship, and associate together with no racial distinctions.”