Branch Letter
Dear Kingdom Publishers:
Jehovah be praised!
“I will laud you, O Jehovah, with all my heart.” (Ps. 9:1) That is just the way we feel. We know that all of you Kingdom publishers feel the same way because you have been doing that during the entire month of April. Now it has been our good pleasure to compile your report. And we are just amazed at what it shows! During April a great shout of praise went up from the lips of 416,789 publishers! That represents another big increase, and our fifth consecutive peak!
Not only did you have great pleasure in talking to others about God’s kingdom, but many were interested in what you said. This is evident in the fact that you obtained 286,620 subscriptions. The total for the four-month campaign reached 906,504—109,416 more than last year. Here in Brooklyn we are still processing this great flood of new subscriptions. And the distribution of magazines for April came to by far the highest mark ever—10,827,701, and all of them directing people to God’s kingdom.
Though you were featuring The Watchtower and Awake! in April, you were still able to put out 438,632 books. With all the magazines and books that you have placed, is it any wonder that we find it necessary to work day and night at the Brooklyn factory to keep you supplied? We are very happy about this and grateful to Jehovah that we have the opportunity, the equipment and the strength to do it.
An outstanding number were able to serve as pioneers during this month of special activity. There were 883 special pioneers, 15,502 regular pioneers (a new peak) and an all-time new record of 31,847 vacation pioneers. This surpassed the previous peak of vacation pioneers by 6,399. Isn’t that wonderful? So many of you—both publishers and pioneers—put in more time declaring the good news, that the total hours came to 8,197,565—over a million more than last April. During this time you made a new peak of 3,720,232 back-calls. And the Bible studies that you conducted reached the highest number ever—352,032. All of this certainly demonstrates the love that you have for Jehovah and your earnest desire to help others to join in praising his glorious name.
Many are responding to your efforts to help them. At the end of March when we had the fine public talk “Restoration of All Things of Which God Spoke,” 674,802 persons were in attendance. And for the Memorial, on April 9, there were 901,195 persons present here in the U.S.A. What a great crowd! Just 4,596 of those present professed to be of the anointed. But hundreds of thousands of others are showing an interest in serving Jehovah with them, and in this we rejoice. We hope that all of them will soon be working in full harmony with the counselors of the New Order society.
There will be many more studies to start during May and June with those who have shown interest this past month. And, of course, we are all making plans to be at the coming assemblies. We know that all of you are very busy. May your being fully occupied in the work of our loving Father always bring the greatest joy to your heart.
We send our warm love to all of you.
YOUR HAPPY BROTHERS AT BETHEL