-
Venezuela1996 Yearbook of Jehovah’s Witnesses
-
-
An Outstanding Desire to Congregate
The Venezuelans by nature are decidedly gregarious. They love to get together in large numbers—for a meal, for a party, for an outing at the beach or in the countryside. When they come into Jehovah’s organization, this facet of their personality continues to be very pronounced. They love assemblies and conventions. For many of them, time, distance, cost, and inconvenience are no object just as long as they can be together.
In January 1950 there was great excitement as the brothers prepared for a two-day assembly in Maracaibo. Brother Knorr and Robert Morgan, from the world headquarters, were to be present. Pedro Morales was disappointed because publicity for the assembly was refused by the local press as a result of opposition from the church. However, as the time neared for the brothers to arrive by plane, he devised another method. He later said: “I arranged for all the children of the congregation to be out at the airport, each one with a spray of fresh flowers. This naturally aroused the interest of the newspaper reporters there, and they asked if they were expecting someone special. The children, who had been carefully briefed, would answer: ‘Yes, Sir, and he will give a talk at the Masonic Hall, Urdaneta Street No. 6, next to the police station.’ As the visiting brothers arrived, the reporters took pictures, and the information about the assembly along with the photographs came out in the newspapers. We got our publicity.”
Also, for two days before the Public Meeting, a local radio station, Ondas del Lago (Waves of the Lake), made announcements every half hour that this talk would be given and that it would be broadcast on the radio. The results were very favorable. In addition to the 132 at the assembly, there was a large radio audience. That year saw the highest rate of increase in the number of publishers ever recorded in Venezuela—146 percent.
-
-
Venezuela1996 Yearbook of Jehovah’s Witnesses
-
-
It is not unheard of for an interested person to attend a circuit assembly or a district convention even before having a formal Bible study or being inside a Kingdom Hall. This desire to congregate was outstandingly demonstrated in January 1988. Don Adams, from the Brooklyn headquarters, was visiting as zone overseer. A bullring in Valencia had been hired, and a two-hour program had been arranged. At that time there were just 40,001 publishers in all of Venezuela. Yet, 74,600 people showed up for the program; they had come from the farthest corners of the country. Some had traveled 12 hours or more by bus to be present; and when the program was over, they climbed back into their buses for the 12-hour return trip. But for the smiling, cheerful, uncomplaining Venezuelan Witnesses, it was worth it just to be among so many of their spiritual brothers and sisters for half a day.
-
-
Venezuela1996 Yearbook of Jehovah’s Witnesses
-
-
[Picture on page 227]
In 1988 more than 74,600 packed out the bullring in Valencia for a special program
-