1973 INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION

As growth continued, a record crowd of 8,150 attended the Portuguese sessions of the “Divine Victory” Assembly held at the Brussels World’s Fair Grounds. There were thousands more of the Spanish and Belgian brothers, bringing total peak attendance to over fifty thousand. It is amazing that so many Portuguese delegates attended, as the majority of them had no passport nor would the government issue one. A special “collective passport” was issued to Witnesses who guaranteed that their group of 25 travelers would return to Portugal. Transportation arrangements included four special trains with 1,000 conventioners on each, six chartered airplanes and scores of buses. It was a faith-strengthening occasion for these Portuguese brothers to be united again from such faraway places as Mozambique, Angola, Cape Verde, Madeira and the Azores.

Love speaks and is heard in all languages. This was once again demonstrated by the rooming arrangements made for the Brussels convention. Imagine, one congregation in Brussels with 50 publishers arranged accommodations for 350 visiting brothers! Many brothers gladly offered their own beds to their visitors. Some had as many as 25 persons in their homes. One brother who had 15 delegates assigned to his home wanted to do more. So he rented all the rooms in a small hotel near the convention location for the entire assembly period and told the brother caring for the rooming department: “You can assign these rooms to those who are in real need.”

The farewell scene at the train station was a never-to-be-forgotten sight. The memorable send-off was full of hugs and kisses, as well as the giving of flowers and souvenirs. A policeman was so moved at this display of Christian love that he decided to offer a gift himself!

What an impact this convention had on our brothers! The police escort leading a convoy of delegates through the city caused one brother to remark: “What a difference! Here the police are out in front, guiding us. In Portugal they are always behind us, chasing us.”

Brother Knorr’s concluding words to the Portuguese assembly were: “Keep on faithfully serving Jehovah. You never know what Jehovah will allow. Who knows, you may be attending your next international convention in Portugal!”

LAST CONVENTION HELD ABROAD

During the summer of 1974 a total of 12,102 Portuguese attended the “Divine Purpose” District Assembly in Toulouse, France. Never in the history of this country had such mass transportation been utilized for a convention abroad. One railway inspector observed the brothers cleaning a coach and remarked: “In all my 25 years of work with the railway I have never seen such a sight. This is most unusual. You are different from any other people that travel these trains.”

This was the grand climax to what had become an annual sojourn abroad. The brothers made every sacrifice to attend the district assembly and gave rapt attention from the opening words of welcome to the last word of prayer. The efforts of all those who served as our hosts over the years will always be deeply treasured.