Making Room to Print Again

In 1971, three years after the branch office was moved to São Paulo, the number of active Witnesses passed 70,000. That year, there were 1,202 congregations throughout the country; Jehovah’s Witnesses devoted over 11,000,000 hours to their public ministry; and they were conducting, on an average, 58,902 home Bible studies. To provide the needed direction and equipment for this program of education, it was apparent that the branch facilities would have to be enlarged again. Looking to Jehovah for direction, the brothers gave this need their attention.

For many years the Portuguese edition of The Watchtower had been printed in Brazil on an old flatbed press. But in 1957, because of increased demand, problems with the press (which had been built in 1918), and an insufficient supply of paper, this printing had been transferred to New York. Now, having found solutions to the problems of press and paper, the brothers were able to resume printing in Brazil.

In order to furnish the space needed for printing, work got under way on an annex to the branch facilities.

Dedication of the New Bethel Annex

About four months before that second press arrived, the new Bethel annex was scheduled to be dedicated. Some expressed doubts that the construction work would be completed on time. But the reply of Fred Wilson, the branch overseer, was: “You don’t know our brothers.” They put their hearts into the work, staying with it till late at night, also on Saturdays and Sundays. On March 17, 1973, the day for the dedication, they were still putting on finishing touches. At noon, everything was ready! The last truckload of rubbish went out the back gate as the visitors began entering the lobby!

Nathan H. Knorr, then president of the Watch Tower Society, and Max Larson, Brooklyn factory overseer, were on hand for the occasion. Brother Knorr gave the dedication talk. The next day, there was a special three-hour program attended by a crowd of more than 28,000, who packed out Ibirapuera Gymnasium. On that occasion, after speaking about the importance of a regular consideration of the daily text, Brother Knorr released the 1973 Yearbook, published for the first time in Portuguese. (Previously, material for use as a basis for daily text discussions in Portuguese had appeared in The Watchtower.) Such daily reading and discussion of a portion of God’s Word is important in the lives of Jehovah’s people, in harmony with what Jesus Christ himself said: “Man must live, not on bread alone, but on every utterance coming forth through Jehovah’s mouth.”—Matt. 4:4.

[Pictures on page 133]

Rotary letterpress put into operation in São Paulo in 1973