For the first time, the brothers organized street witnessing in connection with a district convention.

The response was dramatic. Hundreds of Witnesses were arrested and taken to local police stations. The result was 38 court cases, 35 of which the brothers won outright, while 3 went to the court of appeals. The clergy were forced to see that they were fighting a losing battle. Exasperated, they called a protest rally to demonstrate against Jehovah’s Witnesses. They hired dozens of buses to convey the demonstrators, but as it turned out, not enough people showed up to fill even one bus! God’s people have continued ever since to witness in the streets, and with much success.

Special Convention of 1985

In 1985 the Society chose Greece as a site for one of the special conventions that year. Three sites were selected: the Apollo stadium in Athens; the Assembly Hall and its grounds at Malakasa, outside Athens; and the assembly grounds near Salonika.

Hundreds of delegates came from 17 countries. Two members of the Governing Body, Brothers Gangas and Barry, were present. For the benefit of the visitors, the talks were interpreted into several European languages as well as into Japanese. George Gangas, himself a Greek, spoke to the conventioners in Greek, much to the delight of his audience. The total attendance for the three conventions was 37,367, and 368 were baptized.

The love among the brothers from so many parts of the world was especially evident during the midday breaks. Sitting beneath the shady pine trees of the assembly grounds, one could hear a multitude of voices singing Kingdom songs.

For the 1988 district convention, the brothers rented the modern Stadium of Peace and Friendship near the port of Piraeus. With the contract signed, Jehovah’s Witnesses spent 6,000 hours cleaning the facility. But despite the stadium’s idealistic name, a prominent clergyman raised a tremendous protest​—even ordering that the bells of the churches be rung, convincing many that some disaster such as war had struck. He went so far as to threaten to take over the stadium if the permit to use the stadium was not revoked. Sadly, under such pressure the legal contract was broken​—although only three days remained before the convention was due to begin. The brothers worked day and night to prepare another area for the four-day program. It turned out well​—to the delight of all 30,000 who were able to follow parts of the program directly or by telephone hookup.