Appreciative Gilead Students Graduate
“I WOULDN’T have missed it for anything!” “The happiest time in my life!”
Such expressions were made by appreciative students of the 68th class of the Watchtower Bible School of Gilead. They were talking about the training they had received to prepare them to be missionaries. The climax to their happy, five-month course of training came on Sunday, March 9, 1980, the graduation being held on that date at Jehovah’s Witnesses Assembly Hall, Long Island City, New York.
Why were the 45 graduating students so enthusiastic about their course of study? What motivated them to volunteer to be missionaries?
One young woman said: “I think I really learned more in the five months at Gilead about being an effective teacher than in the four years at the university. The quality of education at Gilead really impressed me.” Another student called the course “very realistic and very practical.” Further explaining their enthusiasm, a young man stated: “I appreciated the general coverage of the Scriptures. The underlying thing that I appreciated most was the points on building a better relationship with Jehovah and improving our Christian personality. In anything we studied, this was also highlighted.”
In a letter read to the audience, the class expressed appreciation, saying:
“The study of the development of truth in chronological order has greatly enhanced our appreciation of the Scriptures. We have delved into the context of every Bible book and found that every verse was written for a specific purpose to apply both then and now. Thus, this revealed further to us that our God, Jehovah, is not a God of generalities, but has provided specific written instruction for his people living at any time. And Gilead has helped us to learn how to do beneficial research and how to present it in a practical way to those we are going to meet in our assignments.
“As the first class to enjoy the fine new classrooms and library facilities, we indeed feel privileged. We are certain that future Gilead students will likewise enjoy the fine atmosphere, which contributes so much to unified study and spiritual association among the class members. . . .
“The instruction itself has been of a very high quality and has well equipped us to carry the curative balm of Jehovah’s message of comfort to the nations.”
The 45 students had come from nine countries, and now they were assigned to do missionary work in 11 lands. These included such countries as Ecuador, Colombia, Bolivia, Japan, Central African Republic, Ghana, Kenya, the Philippine Republic and El Salvador.
In addition to their being from various lands, the students had also come from varied backgrounds. One of them from California had been a hippie and had sold drugs before learning God’s truth. He said: “Another friend and I were attempting to build a boat to sail to the South Pacific. We wanted to go to paradise. We had not gotten very far with building the boat when Jehovah’s Witnesses called at our door. They saw our desire and asked: ‘How would you like to have Paradise come to you?’ We said, ‘That would be fine. Show us what’s necessary!’ We had a Bible study, and in four months we both took our stand for the Bible’s truth, with its promise of Paradise to be restored to the earth by God’s kingdom.”—Luke 23:43.
A student from India had been a good soccer player, and, in fact, was well on his way to represent India in the 1956 Olympics. His life’s dream was shattered by a leg injury. But he soon found something far more satisfying than the Olympics; he found Bible truth and now is able to spend full time sharing it with others.
Some of the students related that they had been searching for God’s truth for years. One young woman from New Zealand said: “I was always interested in finding the truth even as a child. After I left New Zealand and went to Australia, I was still looking for the truth, so I investigated different religions.” Disappointed after going to various church groups, she prayed to God for help to find his truth. Right at that time she was going to England by ship, and she says: “I got a very quick response to my prayers.” How so? On this ship she met one of Jehovah’s Witnesses and she studied the Bible aboard every day with the help of the book The Truth That Leads to Eternal Life. By the time she got to London, she knew that at last she had found God’s truth.
What motivates persons to volunteer for missionary training at Gilead? One student said: “I always had a desire to help people. I really enjoy teaching.” Another said: “When I was a child, I always wanted to be a missionary. It was really the goal of wanting to serve God, and missionary service seemed to be the most useful way of doing it.” A young man from England said: “Ever since I had read a Yearbook of Jehovah’s Witnesses and learned about their missionary work, that is what I wanted to do. Reading the experiences of the missionaries was a great encouragement to me.”
On graduation morning eight members of the headquarters staff of Jehovah’s Witnesses gave parting counsel to the students, and then Chairman J. E. Barr handed them their diplomas.
In the afternoon, a special program prepared by the graduates was presented as “one of the unwritten lessons of Gilead—lessons in people.” While united in worship and purpose, they demonstrated the awkward, sometimes humorous differences in language, music, clothing, foods and habits of each of their cultures, providing the lesson that unity is not necessarily uniformity.
They followed this by staging two Bible dramas, the first based on Proverbs, chapters one through six; and the second, on Ezra, chapters three through five. Through a series of modern-day skits, the first drama demonstrated how godly wisdom “calls out,” overcoming difficulties in rearing children and bridging communication gaps between young and old. An excellent self-scrutiny was made in the second drama, “Set Your Heart upon Your Ways.” (Hag. 1:7) The subtle obstacles that delayed the rebuilding of Jehovah’s temple following the return of the Jews to Jerusalem in 537 B.C.E. were shown to be the same hurdles often facing zealous Christians in their activity today.
The audience of 2,047 at the assembly hall expressed their appreciation by vigorous applause. It was a day for Gilead’s 68th class to remember.
[Picture on page 25]
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) Gomes, M.; Quinones, N.; Sullenger, M.; Jacek, K.; Debnath, T.; Ellis, N.; Bryne, S.; Boseovski, D.; Debnath, M.; (2) Lobinsoff, G.; Manning, H.; Haynes, J.; Goutam, M.; Boyce, S.; Berkeley, G.; Davidsson, M.; Shirshac, P.; Watson, A.; (3) Lobinsoff, G.; Frewin, K.; Boseovski, P.; Cameron, C.; Frewin, M.; Halle, L.; White, L.; Watson, M.; (4) Schneider, S.; Baker, C.; van Heerde, J.; Schneider, R.; Goutam, K.; Jacek, D.; Boyce, G.; Berkeley, A.; Manning, F.; (5) Davidsson, K.; Haynes, I.; Byrne, D.; Baker, G.; Mackie, N.; Ellis, L.; Ives, M.; Sen, R.; White, R.