Happiness Featured at Gilead Graduation

AMONG the graduates were​—a couple who had come all the way from the “outback” of Australia where they had served among aborigines; two couples from Germany; one couple from Denmark and another from Canada; also a young man from Morocco. The rest were from the United States.

In addition to being from various lands, they had also come from varied backgrounds. One had been in the public relations business. Another had been an internationally known concert guitarist. One had once been a rock recording artist. Yes, and they were even a varied group as to race​—black, white and yellow.

What did they all have in common? They were among the happy graduates of the 61st class of the Watchtower Bible School of Gilead. The exercises were held on September 5, 1976, at the Jehovah’s Witnesses Assembly Hall in Queens, New York city. And what a joyous occasion it was! In fact, it was the climax of almost a week of happy activities.

The students spent Tuesday and Wednesday taking their final exams. What a pleasure and relief it was when these were over! Happily, each of the students merited a diploma. The highlight on Wednesday was a special graduation dinner enjoyed with some eighteen hundred others of the Bethel family, members of the Brooklyn headquarters staff of Jehovah’s Witnesses. On that occasion four of the students spoke on behalf of the class. One told how much they enjoyed and profited from the School and how they learned that happiness comes from helping people to know Jehovah God. Another appreciated learning that there is great satisfaction in doing what you know you are supposed to do. Still another told how they enjoyed the brotherly kindness extended to them by members of the Bethel family.

All of Thursday was taken up with dress rehearsals of their graduation program, which rehearsals were greatly enjoyed by quite a number who would be unable to attend the graduation program itself, as well as by the some sixty musicians who recorded the music for the Bible dramas they would be presenting. Friday all the students were driven to Watchtower Farms, where a special program took place. It began at 8:30 in the morning, with three members of the Governing Body of Jehovah’s Witnesses, Leo Greenlees, Lyman Swingle and Ewart Chitty, giving fine admonition to the students as well as to the Farm family.

The students were reminded how much they had in common with Abraham, Ruth and Paul, who left families and friends to serve God in foreign lands. There was also forceful admonition on continuing their assignment, sticking to their posts of duty. Attention was called to many Bible characters who continued faithful in their assignments for many years and were greatly blessed therefor. Also very upbuilding was the development of the theme that if they draw close to God, God will draw close to them.​—Jas. 4:8.

Then the students presented a fine musical program featuring chiefly guitar music and singing, after which they staged two Bible dramas: The first stressed the importance of personal prayer as seen from the experiences of King Hezekiah. The second drove home the importance of being whole-souled in serving Jehovah God, as admonished by Governor Nehemiah and the prophet Malachi. (Mal. 1: 12-14; 3:10) Thus the students enjoyed a full four-hour program of both receiving and giving.

Then they, together with their audience, which included over 600 members of the Watchtower Farms family and 400 guests, enjoyed a fine dinner and association with many friends. After this the students had the pleasure of touring Watchtower Farms.

At ten o’clock Sunday morning at the Assembly Hall, after opening song and prayer, the chairman set the theme of happiness for their graduation by noting that this was indeed a happy day for the graduating missionaries, and all the rest present were happy with them. A number of speakers, eight to be exact, were heard from. All of them gave most practical Scriptural counsel, and a recurrent theme was happiness. Thus the graduates were told that, with the help of wisdom gained from God’s Word, they could be happy even when meeting up with trials. Letting God direct their lives rather than wanting to do their own will would bring them satisfaction, contentment and happiness.​—Jas. 1:2-4.

It was also a happy thought that, of the two million praisers of Jehovah God throughout the world, these twenty-six graduates were specially privileged at this time in having missionary training and the prospect of missionary service. Also grounds for happiness was the fact that nothing can separate God from his true servants. (Rom. 8:35-39) Further contributing to the joyousness of the occasion was the reading of congratulatory messages from widely scattered places.

A happy note in a lighter vein was struck by still another speaker, who drew a lesson from the letter of an eight-year-old girl sent to the Watch Tower Society in which she included a dollar to help print more Bible magazines: “I like the pretty pictures in The Watchtower . . . Keep up the good work, brothers. . . We have to be good because Jehovah and Dad don’t want us to be fooling around. Love. M. W.” Also, in a lighter vein were the remarks of another speaker who told from experience how a sense of humor helps when it comes to primitive sanitation and water supplies abounding in mosquito wigglers in one’s missionary assignment.

Still another speaker stressed the role that happiness must play in the life of a missionary: ‘Whether you remain in your assignment will largely depend upon whether you are happy or not. Happiness is one of the greatest paradoxes. It can grow in any soil, live under any conditions; it comes from within. Happiness is the warm glow of a heart at peace with itself because it knows that the person is leading the right kind of life. Seek happiness by limiting your desires, by making the best of situations; not so much by doing what you like, but liking what you do. To be happy, cultivate a close relationship with Jehovah God; associate with his happy people; give of yourself to others.’​—Acts 20:35.

It was also a cause for happiness to hear another speaker tell of missionaries who continued faithful in their assignments until death, regardless of surrounding conditions or their health. Among these was one whose pallbearers at his funeral were six young men with whom he had conducted Bible studies and who not only took their stand for Jehovah and his kingdom, but entered the full-time service at the Japanese headquarters of the Witnesses.

All that was in the morning. Sunday afternoon upward of two thousand were delighted as the students presented the same program that they had put on at Watchtower Farms. Then a song of praise and a prayer of thanksgiving to Jehovah God closed the program on a fine, upbuilding spiritual note. It had been a most happy day for all attending the graduation of the 61st Gilead class and the end of a happy week for all the students.

[Picture on page 24]

Sixty-first Graduating Class of the Watchtower Bible School of Gilead

In the list below, rows are numbered from front to back and names are listed from left to right in each row.

(1) Liverance, J.; Casado, E.; McSharry, G.; Rosado, M.; Miller, D. (2) Tanaka, G.; Miller, J.; Paulisch, I.; Blankenburg, H.; Mouat, B. (3) Kalimeris, M.; Hanley, D.; Casado, H.; Wilhjelm, A.; Wilhjelm, P.; (4) McSharry, T.; Rosado, C.; Liverance, W.; Bensmihen, M.; Paulisch, P. (5) Hanley, R.; Strauch, R.; Mouat, S.; Blankenburg, M.; Kalimeris, A.; Block, K.