‘God Makes It Grow’ in Canada

WHAT joy there is to those involved when they see healthy, flourishing physical growth! Ask any farmer. Ask any parent. The whole atmosphere is one of happy encouragement to all. This is equally true in the case of spiritual development.

Consider the way it was in the days of the first-century Christian congregation. On the very first day of its existence it expanded to 3,000 rejoicing disciples! What made it grow? The inspired account says that “Jehovah continued to join to them daily those being saved.” The “happy God” made it grow!​—Acts 2:41-47; 1 Timothy 1:11.

That this ‘multiplying of disciples very much in Jerusalem’ was no mere initial spurt of growth in home soil that would soon wither and die is seen in the results of the disciple-making work of the apostle Paul in Gentile nations about 15 years later. At that time, too, “the congregations continued to be made firm in the faith and to increase in number from day to day.” The reaction to this continuing expansion? It caused “great joy to all the brothers.” When news of the apostolic decree to receive these Gentiles as Christians reached the various congregations “they rejoiced over the encouragement.”​—Acts 6:7; 16:5; 15:3, 31.

However, even though human servants were used to carry the good news to fellowmen, mature early Christians knew that no human deserves the credit for the result. They humbly felt that God was causing the growth. As Paul explained it: “I planted, Apollos watered, but God kept making it grow.”​—1 Corinthians 3:5-8; see also Lamsa.

Growth in the Canadian Field

Humble, productive Christians in Canada feel the same way today. Jehovah’s Witnesses have been busily sowing the “word of the kingdom” in their part of the world field and this has borne good fruit. (Matthew 13:18-23, 36-43) From small plantings in 1880 the number of Kingdom preachers and disciple makers steadily multiplied. By 1956 there were 28,540 in 740 congregations. That year new branch facilities had been dedicated. They were in buildings designed to accommodate the expansion Jehovah was bringing. A magazine press was installed in 1958 to care for the increasing demand for the Watchtower and Awake! magazines. Magazine distribution had soared to over 3,000,000 copies the previous year.

When publishers of the Kingdom passed the 60,000 mark in 1975 and magazine placements in the field topped 8,700,000, it became clear that larger facilities would again be needed. Jehovah was indeed making things grow and 979 congregations were rejoicing over the encouragement. It can be appreciated that Jehovah’s Witnesses do not build structures to promote growth. Rather, God-given growth and new disciples demand expanded facilities to look properly after the work of Kingdom preaching.

The genuineness of the joy of these modern-day Christians can be seen in their response to the notice that the Watch Tower Society had acquired land just outside Georgetown, Ontario, and was preparing to construct new branch quarters there.

Expanded Branch Facilities

Construction began with necessary site work in late 1978. It had been determined that although heavy steel and concrete work would have to be handled by outside firms, our Christian brothers would be given opportunity to volunteer their time and talents wherever possible. And volunteer they did! More than 600 of them came from all parts of the country to look after the plumbing, heating, electrical installations and other needs. Some came for a few weeks, some for a number of months, others for two years. As many as 200 were on the job site at one time.

In some cases whole families came. An electrical contractor from Eastern Canada closed down his lucrative business, relocated his family in a house near the site and became supervisor of electrical installation for the project. Did he and his family view the move as unduly upsetting? The father said: “Well, it hasn’t really been the sacrifice some might think. Rather, I feel we are the ones who have benefited. I think all of us have grown spiritually and the family spirit of cooperation now is tremendous. As far as I’m concerned, all my memories from working on this project will be good ones that we will never forget.”

When the problem of what kind of roofing for the new buildings would be best was solved, there was then a new problem​—finding one of Jehovah’s Witnesses familiar with this approach to roofing that was relatively new to Canada. The morning after making its decision on the roof the Building Committee received a long-distance call from a Witness in Western Canada. He was a roofer offering his services. His specialty? Exactly that kind of roofing needed!

Later, when this Witness was asked if his family had given up much to come to work on the roofing, he replied: “Words can hardly explain the joy and benefit our family have received. Our spirituality has been built up by this experience. It has made our family pioneer-minded.” He and his wife have been serving as pioneers (full-time Kingdom preachers) since the completion of the project.

This upbuilding spirit that moved some to wholesome attitudes toward full-time service was not limited to family men with professions. It also became the experience of hundreds of young men and some young women who volunteered to work. Some of these youths grew to manhood and womanhood during their stay on the job site, becoming skilled craftsmen by the time they left. Their youthful vigor, enthusiasm and cooperative spirit were an encouragement to older ones. Non-Witness workers on the job were highly impressed with the behavior and work habits of these youths. Some of these young people are now pioneers, some have become members of the Bethel family and others have gone to other lands to assist in branch-expansion work going on there.

And what about those whose individual circumstances did not allow for sharing in the actual construction? Their enthusiasm for the growth Jehovah gives was seen in the fact that they wholeheartedly supported it in other ways. Some of them took on added duties and responsibilities in their local congregations, freeing the ones who could go to do construction work. Another fine evidence was seen in the donations and loans by Jehovah’s Witnesses themselves to help cover the construction cost. In this way, along with contributions already on hand at the branch, it was possible to finance the entire multimillion-dollar project without having to obtain funds from any banks or lending institutions. That surely manifested conviction and confidence!

This excellent spirit brought the project to completion on time. Jehovah’s spirit was also manifest in the relatively problem-free transfer of the equipment and personnel to the new quarters in June of 1981. Now attention could be given to preparing for dedication of the new premises in October of 1981.

Happy Dedication of New Complex

Saturday, October 10, 1981, dawned bright and clear, giving promise of a beautiful day for dedicating these new facilities to Jehovah God for his purposes. That lovely sunrise kept its promise​—the entire day was an ideally colorful autumn setting for the program and the touring of the premises.

Soon the invited guests began to arrive. It had been decided by the Branch Committee that, since it was impossible to have all of Jehovah’s Witnesses in the country present, a group of those long associated​—pioneers, former pioneers and others—​should form a representative group from across the land. That meant that many of these invited ones had known one another when the total number of Witnesses was few, some having pioneered together in Quebec and other areas where they opened up the preaching work years ago.

Well, you can imagine the spirit of joy and enthusiasm as these old-timers saw one another, some of them for the first time in 20 or 30 years! There were greetings of delight, hearty embraces and tears of joy everywhere. To see other older ones still loyally serving and to realize that their work of years ago had made this place necessary gave all a tremendous spiritual boost. There was so much of this happy visiting that some later said they forgot to tour the complex! But they have described it as the greatest experience in their Christian career, almost like entering the righteous new order. Someone said: “It was as if Armageddon had already passed and this was the resurrection of all these faithful ones!” Everyone was beaming.

This appropriately set the stage for the dedication program, held during the afternoon and evening. Fittingly, one portion dealt with the history of the work in Canada, favorably mentioning the stalwarts in faith who were the roots in early plantings. A slide program showed how some of these worked in truly pioneering the Kingdom proclamation years ago. Another portion featured interviews, such as with a 95-year-old sister who is still a pioneer, having been on the list since 1914! When asked if she was disappointed that God had not yet brought on the total end, she confidently replied, “No! His time is my time!” When one old-timer was asked what kept him going, his reply was: “Appreciation and gratitude!” How true, and how good a reminder to all of us!

Three members of the Governing Body of Jehovah’s Witnesses, Leo Greenlees, Karl Klein and Grant Suiter shared in the program. The dedication talk “Jehovah, I Will Laud You,” was given by Grant Suiter and dealt nicely with what this new and expanded branch facility was all about. Then, in prayer, the speaker dedicated it all to Jehovah’s use and praise. The audience at the branch Kingdom Hall and the thousands tied in by telephone lines at various locations understood exactly why these structures had been built. There was yet work to do in preaching the Kingdom good news and making disciples.​—Matthew 24:14; 28:19, 20.

Encouraging Future Prospects

Visitors can see tangible evidence that Jehovah has prospered the work of preaching the “good news” and that this branch facility is one of many designed for the work yet to be done. Of course, visitors do see a literal beauty in the structures and grounds themselves. The contrasts of the precast concrete panels with the campuslike areas of lawn, trees and floral displays are pleasant to the eye. The 45 acres (2.47 acres = 1 hectare) of grass blend well with the towering trees (evergreens, maples, birches) that rim the 65-acre property.

But what is most beautiful to beholders with spiritual insight is what is being done and can yet be done here to further Kingdom preaching. They see that despite clergy-inspired persecution and official, unjust bans of former times, things have grown. Without the backing or help of worldlings there has been expansion to the point where now a two-story office building of 20,000 square feet (10.76 sq. ft. = 1 sq. meter) is readied to look after 70,000 active Witnesses in more than 1,100 congregations.

In a factory and distribution center that is as long as Noah’s ark (c. 450 feet [140 m]) and three times as wide (c. 225 feet [70 m]) visitors see a new Harris offset rotary printing press, which can produce 35,000 magazines an hour.a Here The Watchtower and Awake! are printed in English, French and Italian. Ink and negatives for making offset plates for these publications come from Brooklyn. Visitors can observe also a smaller offset press turning out magazines in Ukrainian and Samoan. Reflecting Canada’s multilingual population and the multiplying of many-language congregations is the printing of Our Kingdom Ministry in seven languages now. It is clear to visitors that there is room for more printing to be done. Magazines are now mailed from here to 66 other lands to assist in the teaching of the “good news” there.

There are 170 volunteer workers now being housed in the residence building (Bethel). There is room for 250 to be accommodated there. Its dining room can feed 350 persons at mealtimes. Much of the food supplies come from Watch Tower Farm, a 285-acre operation just about 20 minutes away. It, too, is capable of producing more.

Thus, there is every evidence of Jehovah’s blessing on the work of Kingdom proclamation in this land. The proclaimers rejoice over the encouragement. It is their sincere wish that there will yet be further increase and growth to Jehovah’s praise.​—Haggai 2:6, 7.

[Footnotes]

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Office and factory building, Watch Tower branch, Canada

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The new dwelling complex, Canadian Bethel

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Old-timers relate past experiences during dedication program