Modern History of Jehovah’s Witnesses

Part 24—Expanding in the Western Hemisphere

NORTH AMERICA, with its more than 201 million inhabitants, outstandingly shows an impressive record of the harvesting work. English, French and Spanish are the chief languages spoken. Religiously, a large segment is Protestant. Atheism too has a great hold. But Catholic thinking dominates in many sections. The North American mind, rooted in paganism, has in recent years, due to technological developments, gained a highly materialistic outlook, men thinking they are almost gods able to accomplish any purpose by means of “science,” falsely so called. They are also pleasure- and travel-minded, influenced by fantastic Hollywood films. Having led in the inventing of complicated machines of domestic industry and devices of war, the North American man has become a fearful slave of such inventions rather than their master. No peace of mind exists. Great fear of atomic war prevails, overshadowing the thinking of all, religiously, politically and socially.

The headquarters of the Watch Tower Society being located in North America, Jehovah’s witnesses who live here have had a head start in combing out the vast territory to find the “other sheep.” As soon as the Watchtower Bible School of Gilead began to turn out its well-trained missionaries in 1943, these were sent to the various outlying lands of North America, such as Mexico, Newfoundland, Alaska, the Central American countries (the republics of Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and El Salvador, and the British crown colony of Belize or British Honduras), as well as the isthmian republic of Panama and, yes, the French-Canadian province of Quebec.a By 1947 there were 163 Watch Tower missionaries operating in these fields and by 1955 the number had risen to 663 Gilead graduates working in twelve North American lands.

In the spring of 1945, before World War II came to its end, the Society’s president, N. H. Knorr, accompanied by director F. W. Franz, made the first official visit into Mexico and Central America, where arrangements were completed to expand missionary operations.b Official revisits from the Society’s executives have occurred about every four years. Throughout this vast continent hundreds of new congregations have been developed in isolated areas and also by subdividing congregations fast growing beyond 200 members in the large American cities. Particularly in Canada and the United States many congregations have been forced to build adequately equipped, beautifully designed Kingdom Halls to accommodate the growing needs of the witnesses for meeting places. In Mexico, where so many of those interested in the message of Jehovah’s kingdom are illiterate, schools have been established in each congregation for teaching young and old to read and write Spanish. This Mexican education program has been crowned with great success.c

Since 1945 the major battlefield has been in Canada, centering around the Catholic province of Quebec. From 1943 to 1955, 1,682 prosecutions of the witnesses have taken place there, in addition to many mob actions. Of the prosecutions, 780 were concluded in favor of Jehovah’s people; and recently 899 others have been terminated by the historic Canadian Supreme Court decision in favor of Jehovah’s witnesses in the case of Saumur v. Quebec, decided October 6, 1953.d In January, 1954, the Quebec provincial government retaliated by enacting a law to frame the witnesses. This annoyance, too, has had to be challenged in the courts of the land. In 1951 the witnesses won one of the most outstanding decisions in Canadian legal history, the case of Boucher v. The King, where the Canadian Supreme Court held that the preaching activity of the witnesses was not seditious.e Canada having no guarantees of civil liberty and the witnesses having been victims so long of scandalous persecution, the Society in Canada circulated a petition requesting a Bill of Rights. Eventually 500,967 Canadians signed this petition, which was presented to Parliament June 9, 1947. In February, 1949, a second and still larger petition was submitted, of 625,510 signatures, but this, too, went unheeded. Despite the heat of battle in Catholic Quebec, the number of witnesses is growing very rapidly as this prison house is being opened for honest people to change their thinking in freedom of worship and to escape to God’s New World society.

The following table indicates the stupendous effort that has been put forth in North America in recent years and the very satisfying results indicated in the growing number of ministers.f

1942 7 75,589 19,668,961

1947 12 91,740 20,787,495

1952 12 168,752 25,810,384

1953 12 193,542 26,734,105

1955 12 236,124 29,999,901

Over twenty-nine million hours of preaching spent in 1955 by 236,124 ordained ministers was bound to have powerful effect upon the thinking of millions. By 1955 in North America there was one minister of Jehovah’s witnesses for every 922 inhabitants of the continent. The gathering work in this part of the world has gained great momentum and no amount of clergy opposition can now slow it down. Thousands of congregations are continually expanding as they absorb the tens of thousands of new ones fleeing to God’s organization for safety.

ISLANDS OF THE ATLANTIC, CARIBBEAN AND MEDITERRANEAN

In great numbers the inhabitants of the isles are hearing the call of the Right Shepherd, Jesus Christ, as they hasten to flee to Jehovah’s mountainlike organization. The islands of the Atlantic, Caribbean and Mediterranean are great in total number and quite thickly populated by over sixteen million whites, browns and blacks of English, Dutch, Latin and African origins. Life for them is not so complicated as it is for their North American cousins. Their thinking religiously is colored by that of Catholicism, Anglican discipline and demonistic superstitions such as voodooism. Moral standards are not very high, due to priestcraft’s practice of divine bribery by paying money for forgiveness of sins; the men may have one official wife and several other women with whom they live in common-law relationship. A large percentage of children are born out of wedlock. The women do much of the work and practically support their husbands and children. No great care has been given to educating the young. People live day by day without great worries, enjoying meager pleasures and not exercising their thinking powers to any great degree. Yet among masses of this frame of mind thousands are becoming serious Christian ministers in association with Jehovah’s witnesses.

Late in 1943 Gilead graduate missionaries began to be sent to Cuba, where immediate success was had in teaching eager listeners Bible truth. Thereafter Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Trinidad, Bermuda, the Bahamas, Jamaica and other islands began to be “invaded” by Watch Tower missionaries, where the populace gave them ready reception. The Society spent about $125,000 in expanding the ministry in the Caribbean area as well as in Central America and South America in the year 1946 alone.g For three consecutive years from 1944 onward the president of the Society made visits to Cuba and other islands to stimulate the excellent beginnings made in these areas.h By 1955 there were 144 missionaries operating in 38 different political “lands” on islands. For several years the schooner Sibia was a floating missionary home with a crew of Gilead graduates calling from island to island to give lectures, witness to all the natives and hold Bible studies with them.i That vessel has now been replaced by the larger ship Light.j Much isolated interest has thus been gathered for permanent missionary activity by later ministers, whom the Society will send into the territory.

Inspired by the clergy, government bans, missionary deportations and general opposition have developed in Dominican Republic, Haiti, Bermuda, Jamaica and other islands, but this does not deter the witnesses, as is apparent in the following chart of expansion.k

1942 6 1,297 237,057

1947 12 6,429 1,448,810

1952 15 15,659 2,200,647

1953 29 17,421 2,248,941

1955 38 19,615 2,673,483

A mighty preaching service of more than two million hours a year is sounding forth Jehovah’s praises in these islands. By this means thousands more will be educated for life in Jehovah’s glorious new world of righteousness. Already in 1955 there was one minister of Jehovah’s witnesses for every 971 of the islanders. A good percentage this!

SOUTH AMERICA

Up until the close of World War II all the lands of the continent of South America, with its 120 million inhabitants, seemed to be the sole preserve of the Roman Catholic Church. In 1945, with the Western democracies defeating the Catholic-Fascist-Nazi attempt at world control, the door into South America seemed to be wide open for the penetration of true Christianity by means of the courageous missionaries of Jehovah’s witnesses. Spanish and Portuguese are the chief languages. Due to the centuries-long heavy hand of the Vatican Hierarchy the thinking of the people in this part of the world is limited, sensual and superstitious. People are sports mad and go in heavily for gambling. Morals, due to the prohibition of divorce because of the Catholic view of matters, naturally are not too high, and common-law marriage is normal practice. Illegitimate children are many and no practical solution has been found for their pitiful state. There is much need for education, which has never been encouraged much by “the Church.” Many are of a proud nature, quick of temper. All seem to be uniformly fanatical patriots with a feeling of superiority. They are easily excited by an idea or the novelty of a thing, but their superficial thinking prevents them from being further interested. What success will Bible education have upon such a people and their way of thinking? We shall see.

In February and March, 1945, the Society’s president, N. H. Knorr, and his companion, F. W. Franz, made their initial visit into South America.l All the major countries were visited and plans were drawn up for missionary expansion into all these countries. The work in Argentina and Brazil had been started in the early twenties but needed to be modernized considerably. Gilead-trained missionaries were sent to South America shortly thereafter and by 1947 there were 117 of them in twelve different South American countries. By 1955 the number of missionaries assigned there by the Society exceeded 340. This meant the opening and financing of many missionary homes throughout South America and also the establishing of suitable branch offices and quarters. Thousands of dollars were spent in this South American expansion, but the fruitage was quick in forthcoming.a Thousands began to leave the Catholic organization to become students of the ministry as Jehovah’s witnesses. Many had to be taught to read and write in the course of their Bible studies. Furthermore, a moral cleanup was necessary, as only those who are married in accordance with Biblical principles could be counted as associates. This required many marital adjustments. So much so that it has come to public notice that the witnesses are the only ones who provide a moral uplift for their associates. But in spite of all these difficulties, the increase has been phenomenal, from 807 ministers in 1942 to 18,800 in 1955. Opposition has been manifested in Colombia, Brazil and other places. In Argentina the Society continued placed under a ban since 1949 by the late dictatorial Perón government. But this does not stop the increases in Colombia, Brazil and even Argentina.

The growth in South America is encouraging and appears to be just at its beginning, for a truly great multitude seems ready to come forth from that part of Jehovah’s field. Observe the following report of this expansion.b

1942 8 807 219,905

1947 12 2,431 956,928

1952 13 11,795 1,990,208

1953 12 13,174 2,137,541

1955 12 18,800 2,874,637

On this southern continent the witness work is comparatively new. Already there is one minister of Jehovah’s witnesses for every 6,435 of the population. But the future promises that this ratio will be greatly reduced as the expansion of true Christianity continues.

(To be continued)

And this good news of the kingdom will be preached in all the inhabited earth for the purpose of a witness to all the nations, and then the accomplished end will come.—Matt. 24:14, NW.

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