• Jehovah’s Witnesses—1996 Yearbook Report
    1996 Yearbook of Jehovah’s Witnesses

    • TAIWAN. The following weekend, on October 15, new branch buildings were dedicated in Taiwan, an island 90 miles [145 km] off the coast of China. Brother Barry also dedicated these facilities. He had first visited Taiwan 42 years earlier, when only a handful of Jehovah’s Witnesses​—mainly of the Amis tribe—​were associated.

      Brothers from abroad as well as local Witnesses built the branch. In fact, at one time or another, 50 percent of the local publishers worked at the project. Some traveled as much as nine hours one way by bus in order to share in the work. Of an eight-woman Amis crew that helped to put in sod outside the dining room, the youngest was 60 years of age; the oldest, 84! This crew began work at 4:30 in the morning. They wanted to start at 4:00 a.m., but it was too dark outside. This same zeal is seen in their preaching activity.

      On the dedication program, Cyril Charles, a Gilead graduate now living in Hong Kong, reminisced about his service in Taiwan in 1949, when he was 28 years of age. Living among the Amis, he had no electricity, no indoor plumbing, and no mattress. But the Amis people showed love for Bible truth. When Brother Charles was going to train a few in the house-to-house work, everybody desired to join in. En route to the territory, 70 from the south and another 70 from the north met Brother Charles. Soon 100 more joined them. All of them wanted to work from house to house with him. Since then, much training has been given to those who have shown a sincere desire to serve Jehovah.

      Succeeding missionaries, who began to arrive six years later, spearheaded the work among the Chinese, who make up a large section of the population. Twenty-six ex-missionaries made it back to Taiwan for the dedication weekend. How pleased they were not only with the fine new branch facilities but also with the evidence that those they had taught have helped many others to become praisers of Jehovah!

      Harvey Logan, the Branch Committee coordinator, and his wife, Kathleen, both Gilead graduates, have served here since 1962. In just the past ten years, they have seen an increase of 150 percent.