View PDFThe content displayed below is for educational and archival purposes only.
Unless stated otherwise, content is © Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania
You may be able to find the original on wol.jw.org
Branch Letter
Dear Kingdom Publishers:
Good news! Reports now compiled show that in this country alone the attendance at the Memorial this year was 1,182,112. That is 135,766 more than last year—a 13-percent increase!
And the subscription campaign was excellent. You will be happy to hear that the number of new subscriptions obtained during the four-month campaign is up more than 33 percent over last year—a total of 683,193! By the way, have you also noticed the circulation figures for the magazines? They are now well above 8,000,000 copies for each issue of both The Watchtower and Awake!
We all enjoyed sharing in distribution of the “Government by God” tract during May, didn’t we? It was a most timely subject. Already in the first few weeks the office here has received many hundreds of coupons requesting books and studies.
Other interesting news that we have heard at Bethel concerns Brother Henschel’s latest zone visit to southern Europe and other countries bordering the Mediterranean. When passing through the Iberian peninsula he learned that pressure on our brothers in Portugal has let up, because the new government there has arrested the former secret police. He also heard that censorship of the mails was to be lifted and freedom of religion restored to the people in Portugal, who have long been under the domination of the Roman Catholic Church.
Spain hit a new peak of 24,820 publishers in April, but, Brother Henschel reports, in the same month there were 60,022 at the Memorial. Amazing, too, was the turnout when he spoke in Barcelona. With only a week’s notice, and by special invitation only, 22,417 packed out the Monumental Bull Ring. Most of the imprisoned brothers have now been released, and for those that were present this assembly was a very special treat.
No national assembly was arranged in Italy either in connection with Brother Henschel’s visit, yet when he spoke in Rome, 20,964 gathered to hear his report.
In this country the “Divine Purpose” District Assemblies begin in June. A wonderful spiritual feast has been prepared. Please don’t miss it.
Your brothers,
BROOKLYN BRANCH OFFICE
