Year Book of Jehovah's Witnesses - Watchtower Archive

160 Yearbook
Ing news of the convention which will be given them at our
district assemblies.
This land lying as far in the northland as Alaska, and
some parts within the Arctic circle, is showing good progress
in the Kingdom work. Most of the people are poor, and have
to work long, hard hours for the necessities of life, yet do
not let these conditions prevent their Kingdom activity. In
some parts of the land large distances must be met in order
to take part in the service. For example, one circuit servant
reports that in one company the nearest neighbor is six
miles away and the nearest interested person is nine miles.
This is a long distance considering the fact that they must
walk. So these brethren cannot take an hour or so off anll
expect to witness. They must take whole days or spend
several hours each time they want to go into the field.
FRANCE
Jehovah's witnesses in France have every reason to
rejoice, because the Lord's blessing has been richly
upon them. There was a 40 per cent increase in the
number of publishers preaching the Word. A number
of factors contributed to this, including the circuit
work and circuit assemblies. Through these the publishers
became better equipped for the various features
of the work, the house-to-house activity, magazine
street work and the back-call and Bible-study
activity. The country is now divided into ten circuits
and two districts, and the French brethren appreciate
this organizational arrangement.
The publishers know the value of entering the
pioneer service. There was an average of 142 pioneers,
and many of these started new companies. In some
cases when they first entered territories there were
only two or three publishers, but now these have
been increased to 30, 40 and even 50 witnesses for
the new world. It appears the French people are
seeking for truth and righteousness. They have been
harassed long with war and their trials have been
great, so the truth now comes as a great comfort to
them. Undoubtedly all of these publishers will press
on with Theocracy's increase during 1951. The branch