Year Book of Jehovah's Witnesses - Watchtower Archive

Yearbook 199
In a small village where there was a company of 10 preachers.
A mob, led by the son of the local orthodox priest,
tried to gain entrance to the house where the brethren were
having a meeting. A struggle ensued when our brethren
resisted them. This continued for nearly two hours until
the authorities came. Upon their arrival, instead of taking
into custody the mobsters, they arrested 6 of our brethren.
At police headquarters, the chief, a fanatical religionist and
egged on by the priest, did his utmost to break their integrity.
To the first brother he said, "Renounce this God
of yours, .Jehovah, and do the sign of the cross." Came back
the reply: "Even if you cut my head off, I would never do
that." One by one their turn came and all refused likewise,
each then undergoing a severe beating. The case was referred
to higher authorities and now freedom of worship has been
restored to the village. After this outrage the zeal of the
witnesses there did not diminish, for others joined them to
swell the number to 33 now active.
Of course, not the whole service year has been one of
mob action. Except for the two incidents mentioned above,
Jehovah's witnesses in Lebanon have had much freedom to
preach. Because of this they give thanks to Jehovah, and,
as you can see by the report, It is evident that the Lord's
blessings have been with them. We have more than doubled
in number of publishers, put out almost twice the amount
of literature over that of last year, and we are making
more back-calls and conducting more Bible stUdies than
ever before. "Preach the Word" has been the theme, and
"preach the word" have we maintained.
There are many diverse religions in this country, Moslems,
Jews, and many sects of name-Christians. But regardless of
the beliefs of the people, Jehovah's witnesses have gone to
one and all. Just about half of the population is made up
of Moslems. In some places if a brother calls on a Moslem
home, and If the husband is not at home, the woman being
alone In the house is forbidden to see the man. However, we
have another class of Moslems that have gone modern to
some extent. The women do not cover their faces with a
veil but are able to let themselves be seen by men. This
being the case, we have encouraged as many sisters as
possible during the year to get out in the service going from
house to house. A number have become active, rejoicing and
having wonderful experiences.
For one to be witnessing In Beirut, the capital and
Lebanon's largest city, it would be an asset for him to know
three or four different languages, for he never knows what
kind of person he will talk to next. He might find people
who speak only Arabic, French, Armenian, Greek, or English.