Learning a new language also helped them to be patient and empathetic when teaching people who could not read or write. They thus helped scores of interested ones to master the basic literacy skills needed to read God’s Word. (Isa. 50:4) In turn, the number of publishers grew from 2,000 in 1989 to about 3,000 in 1998, an increase of 50 percent in just nine years!

[Graph/​Picture on page 118]

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Total Publishers

Total Pioneers

3,500

2,500

1,500

500

1955 1965 1975 1985 1995 2005