1955 yearbook - Watchtower Archive

44 Yearbook
God's Word says: "This good news of the kingdom
will be preached in all the inhabited earth for
the purpose of a witness to all the nations." (Matt.
24:14, NW) This very thing Jehovah's witnesses
are trying to do. To accomplish it 1,720 graduates
of Gilead School have been sent out to all parts
of the world. Some are in the district and circuit
servant work, others in branch offices, and 910 are
missionaries located in 220 homes in 71 different
countries and in 205 different cities. From those
homes these missionaries work out into small
villages and towns and rural sections preaching
this good news of the Kingdom. They are not alone
in this, because the Society has appointed many
local ministers as special pioneers. These are selected
from the general pioneer ranks and aided
financially to go off into isolated places in their
respective countries, to do the same kind of fuIItime
ministerial work. These missionaries and
special pioneers, who try to devote 140 or more
hours monthly in preaching the good news from
house to house, together with pioneers who try
to devote 100 hours a month to the field service,
totaled 17,265. Congregation publishers averaged
508,659 every month, making a grand total of
525,924 Kingdom publishers, ministers, joyfully
proclaiming the good news every month.
Undoubtedly there are millions of persons who
believe as Jehovah's witnesses do but who lack
the courage or faith or full hope that Jehovah's
witnesses have; otherwise they too would come
forward and take their stand as dedicated servants
of Jehovah. To help such, to bring them on
to maturity, so that they can appreciate that the
only hope for the world is Jehovah's kingdom, may
require many more years. They must take in
greater knowledge of this kingdom. That is why
Jehovah's witnesses continually take literature to
the people in their own language so that they
may read and study. In the service year of 1954,