increasing force: “Praise ye Jehovah. Praise God in his sanctuary: praise him in the firmament of his power. Praise him for his mighty acts: praise him according to his excellent greatness. . . . Let everything that hath breath praise Jehovah. Praise ye Jehovah.” (Ps. 150:1-6, Am. Stan. Ver.) This is no local call to praise God; it is a universal appeal to all creation to join in singing Jehovah’s praises. All men that know Jehovah must praise him now, so that maximum opportunity is afforded others of goodwill to learn of him and join in the praising. Every available instrument must be pressed into service to sound out Jehovah’s glories. No one must shirk his privilege of joining in the “Hallelujah” chorus, for the only creation that will survive to all eternity will be that which renders unceasing praise to Jehovah in this “day of Jehovah” and forever beyond its terrible climax.

A Visit to Central America

WEDNESDAY, November 30, 1949, was the day that N. H. Knorr, president of the Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, and one of his secretaries, R. E. Morgan, were scheduled to leave New York for a service tour of the Society’s Branch offices and missionary homes in Central America, also taking in three countries on the northern coast of the South American continent and several islands in the Netherlands West Indies. They were to attend conventions and give lectures in the principal cities visited during their trip. Preparations for the journey were interrupted fourteen days prior to the departure date when Brother Knorr was stricken with an acute attack of appendicitis. It was hoped that the inflammation would respond to treatment and subside so as to make an operation unnecessary. However, this was the third attack over a two-year period and the doctors decided that an operation was imperative. So at 10 p.m. on November 16 an appendectomy was performed. This meant, of course, that Brother Knorr would be unable to leave on the journey according to the itinerary sent to all Branch offices of the Watch Tower Society in the area to be visited, even though he was back at his desk and working by November 22, six days after the operation.

Due to the fact that Jehovah’s witnesses in these countries were expecting a visit by representatives from the Society’s headquarters, and because preparations had already been made for conventions and the advertising of public meetings to be addressed by Brother Knorr was being done, he advised Brother Morgan to continue his travel arrangements and plan to make the trip by himself from Mexico through to Nicaragua. Brother Morgan would keep all the speaking appointments and substitute for the president at the public meetings. Brother Knorr decided that, after allowing several weeks for the incision to heal sufficiently, he would leave New York on the 17th of December and spend two days in the first six countries to be visited, finally overtaking Brother Morgan in Costa Rica on December 30. In this way Brother Knorr would be able to handle important matters pertaining to the Kingdom work, check Branch offices, discuss problems of expansion and those confronting missionary homes, and address the local companies that Brother Morgan had already served; and at the same time he would not miss visiting and counseling Gilead graduates in these countries.

Early in the morning of November 30 a group of brethren from Brooklyn Bethel, including Brother Knorr, who was by this time feeling quite well and working every day, accompanied Brother Morgan to the airport at Newark, New Jersey. There was a very heavy smog over the city that morning, and especially over the airfield; but promptly at 9 a.m. the airport loudspeakers announced the departure of Eastern Airline’s Flight 501 to Houston, Texas. The brethren seeing Brother Morgan off wished him the Lord’s blessing upon his journey, and within a few minutes the giant new-type Constellation thundered down the runway and soon disappeared in the haze on its southwesterly flight. With its pressurized cabin it cruised at an altitude of more than 11,000 feet, crossing southeastern United States at better than 300 miles per hour. Riding was smooth for the greater portion of the trip. A few minutes before 2 p.m. the captain called for seat belts to be fastened, and promptly at 2:05 the wheels touched down on the Houston runway. Reservations called for a continuance of the trip to Mexico City via Pan American World Airways at 3:30 p.m. But there was a delay of thirty minutes because of repairs being made on the Pan American DC-4. However, not many minutes after 4 p.m. the “Clipper Archer” was out over the Gulf of Mexico, taking a straight course for the capital city of Old Mexico.

MEXICO

A few minutes after 8 p.m. the lights of Mexico City began to appear in the distance. All was pitch dark in the sky above as we flew over the city and circled to the west, but the brilliance of the multicolored lights below evidenced the fact that Mexico City is a modern city, appearing no different from the sky at night than any large American city might. The plane settled down smoothly on the runway of the Aeropuerto Central on the outskirts of the city. On hand were all the Gilead graduates doing educational work in Mexico City, along with some members of the Mexican Bethel family. They wondered where Brother Knorr was, as the Mexican office had not received the notification that he would come two weeks later, although they knew Brother Knorr had been sick. Some thought that a fellow traveler getting off the plane with Brother Morgan was one of the brethren from Brooklyn Bethel, and they gave that gentleman as royal a reception and shook his hand as vigorously as they did with Brother Morgan. He certainly must have thought well of Mexican hospitality. It was not until a few of the “reception committee” of some thirty or more brethren said, “Wait for the other brother,” that they all learned Brother Morgan was traveling alone.

After all this excitement the group proceeded to the home of the brethren. There everyone gathered around the dining-room tables to look at the latest pictures of the new Brooklyn Bethel and factory, and to talk about friends back home and how things were going in the U.S.A. This was Brother Morgan’s first trip to a strange and interesting country and he was enjoying it.

Thursday and Friday were devoted to checking procedure in the office of La Torre del Vigia de Mexico, A.C. Although Jehovah’s witnesses in Mexico had just concluded three very successful district assemblies, a good number of persons gathered together in Mexico City to enjoy a fourth assembly for that country during the year. Principally those comprising the units in Mexico City were in attendance. All persons interested in the work of Jehovah’s witnesses were invited to attend the special talk to be delivered on the subject “Liberty to the Captives”. There were 670 brethren attending the opening meeting on Friday night. To Brother Morgan this was a new experience and he was impressed by the colorful group—people coming from all walks of life, each distinguished by his dress, but all being the Lord’s “other sheep”. To see babies carried in a rebozo or shawl in the mother’s bosom or on her back was a strange sight when one is used to seeing babies moved about in carriages or carried in the arms of the mother. The children of all ages were unusually quiet and never caused any disturbance. All faces radiated joy and happiness. After a few words of greeting the speaker conveyed the love and best wishes of Brother Knorr and his regrets at not being able to be with them.

Then a fine service program got under way. This concluded with a thirty-minute talk by the traveling representative on the responsibilities of servants in the company organization. Saturday morning was set aside for field service; and the afternoon was devoted to talks, all by graduates of Gilead, two being native Mexican brethren. Saturday evening Brother Morgan spoke again, using a Gilead graduate as interpreter. Although the Mexican brethren do not have a Kingdom Service Song Book, but just the printed words, it seemed that their singing was so much more vigorous and moving than when the same songs are rendered in English. Sunday afternoon 850 persons assembled to hear the special talk “Liberty to the Captives”. There were many persons of good-will in attendance, some having come to their first meeting. The convention concluded Sunday evening with a report on the expansion of the Society’s facilities in the United States and a summary of how the witness work is moving ahead in other countries of the world. Approximately 950 persons enjoyed this last session and they requested Brother Morgan to convey their love to all their fellow workers whom he would meet along the course of his trip. At 11 a.m. Tuesday morning, December 6, Brother Morgan bade good-bye to the brethren at the Mexican office and boarded a Pan American DC-4 for the trip to Guatemala, to the south.

THE PRESIDENT GETS AWAY

The Mexican brethren had a very blessed time with Brother Morgan. They were not downhearted because Brother Knorr had not been present with him, because they knew that in about ten days they would receive a second visit, this time by the president of the Society. While his stay would not be as long, still it meant two visits by someone from headquarters, and for this they were glad. Time rolled by quickly and December 17 was upon them before they knew it. This was the day Brother Knorr was to arrive. He got away from New York on time, saying good-bye to a number of brethren who had come to the airport to see him off. He was traveling the same route he would have traveled with Brother Morgan. The weather was, however, not quite as favorable, for while traveling over the states of Louisiana and eastern Texas the plane ran into a very heavy rainstorm and bumpy air. About half the passengers got sick. Brother Knorr, being a veteran traveler by air, was not disturbed by the bouncing but he felt very sorry for the many distressed passengers. He landed in a drenching downpour in Houston, Texas. All the passengers had to walk through lakes of water to get to shelter. The plane was considerably late and the traveler wondered if the Mexico-bound Pan American plane had waited for the arrival of this Eastern Airlines flight. In checking with Pan American it was learned that their plane was late too and would not leave until 7 p.m. That meant two and a half hours of waiting around the airport.

Desiring to see some brethren in Houston, Brother Knorr phoned the company servant, and shortly thereafter about fifteen brethren came to the airport and spent the time with him. There were many interesting things to talk about, and so until they left about 9:30 p.m. he certainly appreciated their company. Conversation made the time fly by rapidly. Pan American kept postponing their flight 30 minutes at a time until finally midnight rolled around. One of the engines of the DC-4 did not run properly and had to be taken apart two times before they found the trouble. Around 12:15 a.m. the engine was tuned up and sounded as good as the other three. All passengers were on board and they rolled away through a dense fog. Speeding down the runway it was possible to see only a few lights that marked the path for the plane, but within a few minutes they were up in the air above the clouds, observing the stars of heaven. Tired and sleepy, the president of the Society slept all the way to Mexico City, arriving there at 4:30 in the morning. Pan American had informed the brethren who had come out to the airport earlier in the day to meet the plane that it would not leave Houston until morning. So they gave up and went home, with the exception of one brother who checked later in the night and found the plane would arrive between 3:30 and 4:30 in the morning. So he waited until Brother Knorr came. It was good to see Brother Terán, a graduate of Gilead and a native Mexican. The two took a taxi to the Bethel home and got in without being heard or disturbing anyone, and they slept well for a few hours in the morning.

Sunday was a busy day, spent talking to graduates of Gilead school and the Bethel family. Arrangements were made to talk to two of the Mexico City units at 7 p.m. and three units at 8 p.m. The first hall was packed out, with standing room only, and Brother Pérez, the servant in charge, interpreted what Brother Knorr had to say to the company. He was then rushed by car from one hall to the other and started talking there at 8 p.m. At the two meetings there were 550 persons in attendance. Announcement was made at these two meetings that, due to the number of publishers in Mexico City and the crowded three halls they were using, the Society would arrange immediately to break up the five units into twelve, establishing units in all parts of the city so as to make it convenient