Along with the others in Eastern Europe, an international convention was planned for Bucharest, Romania. But the Romanian Orthodox Church bitterly opposed it. Inflammatory posters appeared throughout Bucharest. Newspapers, TV, and radio were used to fan the flames. Hotel managers were induced to break agreements. The government and the stadium management yielded, and the stadium contract was canceled. Through it all, the brothers were sustained by such inspired promises as those found at Isaiah 51:7 and Jeremiah 50:34. But would they be able to benefit from the convention program?

During this time, there were further developments in Romania. In recounting what took place, Theodore Jaracz, a member of the Governing Body, said: “We can only say that Jehovah’s heavenly chariot was on the move. It can adjust its speed; it can adjust its movement, change directions, at any time. The problem is for the earthly organization to keep pace with it!” (Ezek. 1:4-28) Just one week before the convention was scheduled to begin, the brothers were able to sign a contract for a stadium in Cluj-Napoca, in the northwest part of Romania. Travel plans for thousands of delegates had to be changed. Accommodations for 6,000 had to be obtained. All the work of preparation had to be compressed into a few days. And then with just two days to go, a second convention site was obtained, in Brasov, in the east-central part of the country. The preparations made could only have been done with Jehovah’s spirit. The outcome? At the Cluj-Napoca convention, there was a peak attendance of 22,004; in Brasov there were 12,862, including 1,056 from Bulgaria. The total baptized was 1,631.

Back in Bucharest the church called for a protest rally on the opening day of the convention, but only the police and one elderly man showed up—and our brothers gave them literature and a good witness. As stated at Jeremiah 1:19: “They will be certain to fight against you, but they will not prevail against you, for ‘I am with you,’ is the utterance of Jehovah, ‘to deliver you.’”