• Jehovah’s Witnesses—1997 Yearbook Report
    1997 Yearbook of Jehovah’s Witnesses

    • “Messengers of Godly Peace” Assemble

      In all parts of the world, Jehovah’s servants look forward to their annual district conventions. If they cannot assemble locally, they endeavor to cross national borders in order to be on hand for this annual spiritual feast. The series of conventions that began this past year featured the theme “Messengers of Godly Peace.” How true are the words: “Abundant peace belongs to those loving your law”!—Ps. 119:165.

      In many lands two or three conventions accommodated everyone. In both the United States and Brazil, upwards of 190 conventions were needed in order to provide room for all who wanted to attend. Mexico arranged for 181.

      An international convention was held during July in Prague, Czech Republic. Three members of the Governing Body were present to speak to the more than 21,000 who had gathered—most of them from the Czech Republic, but also several thousand from Austria, Canada, Germany, Japan, Poland, Slovakia, Switzerland, and the United States. Two more international conventions were held in Poland—one in Lodz and the other in Warsaw—and those who were present were keenly aware that Jehovah’s spirit was manifest. Another two international conventions were held in Tallinn, Estonia, in August. These were attended by Estonians, Latvians, Lithuanians, and Russians, along with others—from a total of 15 lands. A local newspaper observed: “Tallinn is literally filled with the worship of Jehovah’s Witnesses.” And one of the convention delegates added: “This was a tiny foregleam of what the new world will bring.”

      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?

      Well, months before, when arrangements were being made for a district convention in Budapest, Hungary, the brothers did not plan to rent the huge stadium that they had used in 1991, when delegates came from 35 lands. They thought that this time the stadium would be much too large. Nevertheless, the manager offered it at a price that was so attractive that the brothers rented it anyway, having in mind that they could use just part of it. However, as difficulties escalated in Romania, directions were given to the branch in Hungary to plan for an international convention in Budapest. How providential that they already had a stadium that could hold such a crowd! A headline in the biggest evening newspaper in Budapest declared: “BUCHAREST: No—BUDAPEST: YES. Jehovah’s Witnesses in the Nép Stadium.” In Budapest, 23,893 from 12 countries attended. Two more conventions in Hungary boosted the total attendance to 36,326.

      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.’”