Making Room to Print Again

In 1971, three years after the branch office was moved to São Paulo, the number of active Witnesses passed 70,000. That year, there were 1,202 congregations throughout the country; Jehovah’s Witnesses devoted over 11,000,000 hours to their public ministry; and they were conducting, on an average, 58,902 home Bible studies. To provide the needed direction and equipment for this program of education, it was apparent that the branch facilities would have to be enlarged again. Looking to Jehovah for direction, the brothers gave this need their attention.

For many years the Portuguese edition of The Watchtower had been printed in Brazil on an old flatbed press. But in 1957, because of increased demand, problems with the press (which had been built in 1918), and an insufficient supply of paper, this printing had been transferred to New York. Now, having found solutions to the problems of press and paper, the brothers were able to resume printing in Brazil.

In order to furnish the space needed for printing, work got under way on an annex to the branch facilities.

Dedication of the New Bethel Annex

About four months before that second press arrived, the new Bethel annex was scheduled to be dedicated. Some expressed doubts that the construction work would be completed on time. But the reply of Fred Wilson, the branch overseer, was: “You don’t know our brothers.” They put their hearts into the work, staying with it till late at night, also on Saturdays and Sundays. On March 17, 1973, the day for the dedication, they were still putting on finishing touches. At noon, everything was ready! The last truckload of rubbish went out the back gate as the visitors began entering the lobby!

Nathan H. Knorr, then president of the Watch Tower Society, and Max Larson, Brooklyn factory overseer, were on hand for the occasion. Brother Knorr gave the dedication talk. The next day, there was a special three-hour program attended by a crowd of more than 28,000, who packed out Ibirapuera Gymnasium. On that occasion, after speaking about the importance of a regular consideration of the daily text, Brother Knorr released the 1973 Yearbook, published for the first time in Portuguese. (Previously, material for use as a basis for daily text discussions in Portuguese had appeared in The Watchtower.) Such daily reading and discussion of a portion of God’s Word is important in the lives of Jehovah’s people, in harmony with what Jesus Christ himself said: “Man must live, not on bread alone, but on every utterance coming forth through Jehovah’s mouth.”—Matt. 4:4.

“Divine Victory” International Convention

The year 1973 closed with the largest convention ever held in Brazil by Jehovah’s people, in Pacaembu Stadium in São Paulo, December 26-30. A huge balloon announcing the theme “Divine Victory” floated over the stadium. The program strengthened the conviction of those in attendance that divine victory by God’s Kingdom will indeed bring the greatest blessings for humankind. During the assembly itself, they saw evidence that education regarding God’s will as recorded in the Bible had already transformed the lives of tens of thousands of people in Brazil. Twenty-eight years earlier, Brother Knorr had spoken to an audience of 765 in a nearby gymnasium. On that occasion, when looking over toward the mammoth stadium, he had wondered aloud whether Jehovah’s Witnesses in Brazil would ever fill that facility. That idea became a reality in 1973, when Brother Knorr spoke to an overflow audience of 94,586 in that very stadium! The previous day, 3,187 new ministers had been baptized. That five-day convention was in itself an evidence of divine victory!

Delegates were on hand from all parts of the country. From the city of Manaus, capital of Amazonas State—about 2,500 miles [some 4,000 km] away—came three buses and four cars with delegates, the first group ever to travel the precarious Trans-Amazon Highway. Another group traveled some 1,800 miles [more than 3,000 km] from Belém, on the northern coast, and a special train and more than 180 buses brought joyful delegates from Rio de Janeiro. So great was the publicity that the governor of the state of São Paulo and the mayor of the city visited the convention grounds.

Obtaining rooms for these thousands of delegates was a challenge, since many of them did not have the means to pay for hotel accommodations. Some 21,000 room requests were handled by the Rooming Department. In harmony with the Bible’s counsel to “follow the course of hospitality,” Witnesses and others made rooms available in their homes. (Rom. 12:13) More than 6,000 delegates were accommodated in Kingdom Halls. The delegates from Amazonia were all housed in a factory offered by a sister’s husband. Mattresses were lent by Witnesses and interested persons.

A Spiritually Refreshing Visit

In September 1974 a special treat was enjoyed by the brothers in São Paulo. What was it? A visit by Frederick W. Franz, then vice president of the Watch Tower Society. This was not his first visit to Brazil. Along with Brother Knorr, he had served on a convention program in São Paulo in 1945. This time, however, he was accompanied by Karl Klein, who shortly thereafter began to serve along with him on the Governing Body of Jehovah’s Witnesses. They were spending three days in São Paulo on vacation, but they also took pleasure in imparting “some spiritual gift” to their Christian brothers. (Rom. 1:11, 12) What could be more enjoyable than a discussion of spiritual matters? Quickly, arrangements were made for a special meeting in a theater. A total of 2,000 attended.

Massasue Kikuta, who has been a member of the branch staff since 1967, recalled: “Brother Franz surprised everyone by giving his talk in fluent Portuguese. Without using a Bible or any notes (his eyesight was already failing), he quoted and explained all of Psalm 91, verse by verse, for more than two hours, in spite of being 80 years of age.” It was learned later that he did the same thing in Spanish for the brothers in Paraguay!

At about the same time, the paper being imported for printing the magazines arrived. “The first shipment was 150 tons,” recalled Euclides Justino, who was sent from Bethel to the port to get it. “We arranged for trucks to transport the paper from the port in Santos to Bethel in São Paulo.

Some who received the tract acted promptly on what they learned. That was true of a 22-year-old college student in São Paulo. Impressed by the urgency of the situation, he agreed to study the Bible with the aid of the book The Truth That Leads to Eternal Life. Soon he began to speak to others at college about what he was learning, and three months later he shared in the special distribution of another tract.

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Rotary letterpress put into operation in São Paulo in 1973

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At “Divine Victory” Convention in São Paulo, delegates saw heartwarming fruitage of their united witnessing