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Kingdom Proclaimers Report

Preaching “a Release to the Captives” in Brazil

JEHOVAH’S spirit is working mightily on his people in Brazil as they preach the good news of a release to those in bondage to false religion. (Isaiah 61:1, 2; Luke 4:18) In 1947 there were only 648 Witnesses in the country. In 1967 the number had climbed to 41,548. With Jehovah’s blessing, in early 1991 it reached a peak of over 302,000! Truly, ‘God made it grow.’ (1 Corinthians 3:7) In the 1990 service year alone, 27,068 were baptized.

Such growth made necessary the organizing of one new circuit each month, and 150 new Kingdom Halls were dedicated in just one year. Moreover, the branch office purchased 450 acres [180 ha] of land to expand their printing facilities, where they are now printing Bibles on their own presses. Thus the Witnesses in Brazil work hard to help meekhearted ones to get out of “Babylon the Great” before “the great tribulation.”​—Revelation 7:9, 10, 14; 18:2, 4.

□ An eight-year-old publisher left a book with the wife of the chief of police and then, all alone, made a return visit. His objective was to have the lady read some of the stories to him and have her tell him what she had understood from each one. As she explained the stories to him, she herself began to appreciate the book and asked him to introduce her to his mother. He did so, and now the lady is enjoying a regular home Bible study.

□ In 1984, Maria was tired of the hypocrisy she perceived in society, and she despaired because of the disasters she read about that were happening in the world. So she adopted the punk life-style. She states: “Our goal was to be against everything and everyone. My appearance was designed just to shock people​—odd, dark-colored clothes, head partly shaved. I forgot my husband, children, and home and began to smoke marijuana and use cocaine in order to get away from reality. But this just made me feel worse. I cried. When I read the Bible, it was without understanding. So I prayed to God for help.

“One day two Witnesses visited my home and, after a brief discussion, offered me two magazines. Leafing through one of them, I noticed an article entitled ‘Independence From God​—Why Not?’a The article touched my heart. I felt that God had answered my prayers, and that very day, the Witnesses began studying the Bible with me. From then on I made changes for the better. My husband and family at first objected to my study of the Bible, but as they saw the changes I was making, they began to encourage me. I am now a baptized servant of God.”

Jehovah’s Witnesses in Brazil, as in all other parts of the earth, are active in preaching “a release to the captives.” Multitudes are responding, finding true liberation and happiness in serving Jehovah.

[Footnotes]

[Box on page 30]

BRAZIL

Population - 150,367,800

1990 Peak Publishers - 293,466

Ratio, 1 Publisher to - 512

1990 Number Baptized - 27,068

Average Pioneer Publishers - 30,115

Number of Congregations - 4,625

Average Bible Studies - 341,305

Memorial Attendance - 790,926