During his 11 years of service in Hawaii, he had seen how Jehovah had blessed the work with remarkable growth. The number of publishers more than doubled, from 770 to 2,064. Congregations tripled from 12 to 37. Brother Stebbins’ fine ability to organize solidified the local organization and laid the groundwork for further increases in the future.

Something Amiss

During 1965, the brothers at the branch office were puzzled and concerned when the field service reports for the first three months of the service year revealed successive declines in the number of publishers reporting. This was most unusual, as Hawaii had always enjoyed a steady increase.

At Brother Knorr’s direction, a special meeting was conducted with selected circuit and district overseers. After nine hours of intense and prayerful discussion, two causes of the decreases were clearly discerned​—materialism and weakened spirituality.

Employing these various avenues to stress spirituality in the personal lives of the brothers began reaping excellent results. In 1966 there was a 4-percent increase in publishers, and from 1967 to 1969, there were successive 10-percent increases. How true it is that prompt application of instructions from Jehovah’s organization surely brings his blessing!