Brazil

JEHOVAH GOD is searching out those who will worship him “with spirit and truth.” In Brazil he has already gathered a large number of them​—some 72,900 up to April 1972. The search for true worshipers has already been going on for more than fifty years in this immense territory, and it has had wonderful results.​—John 4:24.

But what kind of country is Brazil? What are its people like? What languages do they speak? What are its prominent religions and religious practices? Let us try first to get a general idea of the country with its geographical and historical background. Europeans first discovered this land in the spring of the year 1500. It was then called Vera Cruz Island; later, Land of the Holy Cross, and, finally, Brazil, by reason of the brazilwood, which came to be highly valued for its dye used in the textile industry.

A giant among countries, Brazil has an area of 3,288,050 square miles and extends some 2,676 miles from north to south. Its territory borders on all South American countries except Chile and Ecuador. Naturally, in a country that stretches so far from north to south, it can be expected that there will be variations in climate and temperature.

The population in 1970 was 92,391,521, made up of 54 percent whites, 34 percent caboclos (a mixture of whites and Amerindians), mulatos (white and Negroes) and cafusos (Negroes and Amerindians), 10 percent Negroes and 2 percent Orientals, mainly of Japanese extraction. There is considerable intermarriage among the different races.

Brazilians are a kind, openhearted people who are religiously inclined and are fond of music and sports. Roman Catholicism is the predominant religion, though there are quite a number of Protestants, Jews and Mohammedans. Spiritualism, in its supposedly higher as well as lower forms (macumba, black magic), also superstition and astrology, are widely practiced even by Catholics.

The main language spoken is Portuguese. Also spoken are German, English and Japanese, as well as Italian and other languages of first-generation immigrants who have come mostly from Europe.

The country as a whole is enjoying great material prosperity. The middle class enjoys most of the comforts of life as well as modern conveniences, while the working class still struggles along on a minimum monthly wage of about $45. Roads and communications  systems have spread out across the country, east and west, north and south, so that the country can exploit its resources and get its products to the markets in the big cities. There are now seventy-five cities with over 100,000 inhabitants. Rio de Janeiro has some seven million people and Greater São Paulo fast approaches the eight-million mark. With this background of material and worldly progress in mind, it will be of interest to note how it has come about that the search for truth-hungry people in this vast territory got under way.

HOW THE KINGDOM MESSAGE REACHED BRAZIL

Not from evangelizers of another nationality that had been sent here, but through the lips of eight humble Brazilian sailors, people in Brazil first heard about the Kingdom message around the year 1920. These young sailors, all in their twenties, on leave from their ship as it lay docked in New York, spent some time looking at a window display labeled “The Chart of the Ages.” This window display was at a meeting place of a small group of Bible Students, as Jehovah’s witnesses were then known, close to the offices of the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society in New York. The sailors knew that the chart had to do with the Bible, for one of their members could read a little English. However, the hall was closed, so they could not pursue the matter any further at that time. But their desire was to learn more about God and his Word, so they planned to return. While their ship, the “São Paulo,” was undergoing repairs, Sundays would offer other opportunities for them to investigate the matter.

Next time, the hall was open and they entered and listened to the helpful explanations offered by a Spanish-speaking Bible Student and began to grasp appreciatively the deep meaning of the chart. They obtained the only literature that the Watch Tower Society then had available in Portuguese, namely, a Bible. But at the same time they were able to obtain some copies of The Watch Tower and of the Divine Plan of the Ages in Spanish, which they could understand to some extent.

These sailors continued studying the publications, largely in secret, since they were a bit reluctant to face ridicule and reproach by fellow sailors. Also, they attended meetings whenever they could, always in their navy-blue uniforms. Meanwhile, on the ship itself a godless, Communistic element began to influence the crew, and the officers drew up a list of Communist-inclined sailors who were to be sent back to Brazil.  Because these eight students of the Bible were always together and studied secretly they also were reported as being inclined to be subversive. However, when it was disclosed that their meetings were just to study the Bible, their names were removed from the list. Evidently Jehovah had in mind something else for them!

Moved by zeal and enthusiasm for the things they were learning, they began to speak to others about the good news of the Kingdom to the point where, at times, they would have forty sailors meeting with them. Portuguese-speaking brothers in the United States were of assistance to them too. One of these was Frank Silva, who came down from New Bedford, Massachusetts, to visit them from time to time. Later, John Perry also helped them.

When the repairs were finished the battleship returned to Brazil, carrying at least eight sincere Bible students eager to spread the good news to others. The ship docked at Rio de Janeiro on March 10, 1920, and they decided to find adequate quarters where they could live together, all in the same house. Their Portuguese landlord, at first suspicious of them, later joined them. His family also began to study. They all sent subscription orders to Brooklyn for the Spanish Watch Tower and were further assisted by the fact that Frank Silva and John Perry continued to correspond with them, encouraging them to keep on with their studies.

They had a keen desire to spread the Kingdom message and so they translated what they could into Portuguese and printed some tracts, one of them entitled “Millennium.” The material was taken from the literature they had been able to obtain, and one of their number, Brother Pinho, recalls distributing these tracts at church doors after religious services. Others, like his companion Brother Diniz, would go to certain public parks and would try to preach sermons.

HELP FROM HEADQUARTERS

The interest stirred up by the original group of eight sailors resulted in many subscriptions for the Spanish magazine being sent to the Society’s headquarters in Brooklyn. This no doubt drew the attention of Brother Rutherford, then president of the Society, and his associates. Thus it was that one morning in March 1922 George Young, tall, strong, physically fit, arrived in Rio de Janeiro as a special representative of Brother Rutherford, with the object of helping to consolidate  the interest in Brazil and spreading the message to its far-flung regions. Brother Young certainly endeared himself to those who became acquainted with him. Though not able to speak Portuguese, he would hire interpreters and speak to large audiences.

A special public meeting was arranged in the auditorium of the Automobile Club in Rio de Janeiro in March 1922, and the subject of the talk presented was “Millions Now Living Will Never Die!” This aroused so much interest that it became advisable to engage a good hall to serve as a regular meeting place for the International Bible Students, as those early Witnesses were known. This was the Auditorium of the Portuguese Literature Institute. Meetings were held there every Sunday. These included discussions about the “Divine Plan of the Ages,” studies in the Spanish Watch Tower and showings of the Photo-Drama of Creation.

It was at this hall that the group’s first baptism took place on October 10, 1922. A small canvas tank, shaped like a bathtub, served as an immersion pool. At least two of those baptized on that occasion are still living​—Aristides Corrêa Pinho and Januário da Silva Diniz.

It soon became evident to Brother Young that a good supply of Portuguese publications was necessary in order to carry on the search for those who sincerely wanted to worship Jehovah in spirit and in truth. A good translator was located and put to work, and soon publications in Portuguese started to come off the press, namely, Can the Living Talk with the Dead?, Hell, Where Are the Dead?, The Harp of God, Millions Now Living Will Never Die, Our Lord’s Return and The Standard for the People.

Despite the difficulties of travel on a primitive railroad, Brother Young managed to get around to visit interested persons. For example, he visited the Green family in the beautiful farming country near Ipojuca, northwest of São Paulo. Catarina Green had first heard the message through a friend who subscribed for The Watch Tower. After staying some fifteen days with the family and teaching them basic Bible doctrines, Brother Young baptized at least seven persons in that family relationship.

BRANCH ESTABLISHED

Meantime Brother Young was interested in establishing a firm foothold for the work in Brazil. He therefore rented a small office at 76 Rosario Street, second floor, Rio de Janeiro. Later, when literature  became available and larger quarters were necessary, the depot and offices were moved to 90 Ubaldino do Amaral Street. The Watch Tower Society was organizing its first branch office in South America.

Up to this point interested persons had to make do with the Spanish edition of The Watch Tower for use at their meetings. Now arrangements were made with a commercial printer, and the first Portuguese issue of A Tôrre de Vigia came off the press, an issue covering the months of October​—December 1923. On its second page it announced: “With full approval of Judge J. F. Rutherford, president of the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Brooklyn, New York, a branch office of the said Society was established in Brazil, with offices located at 76 Rosario Street, Rio de Janeiro.” An invitation was extended to all who wished to become subscribers to send their orders to that address. This note was signed by “George Young, Manager.”

Fittingly, the first discussion in the Portuguese Watch Tower was based on Zephaniah 3:16, “May Your Hands Not Drop Down.” Other articles were on such subjects as “Love, the Main Thing,” and “Are You Using Your Mina?” this latter based on Luke 19:13. These articles had prepared questions for use in class studies. In one of those early issues of A Tôrre de Vigia the main article dealt with “The Baptism of the New Creation.” This was truly appropriate. Clarification of the subject moved various ones to offer themselves for baptism. For example, on March 11, 1924, in a creek near the city of São Paulo, several members of the Ferguson family were baptized. Brother Virgil Ferguson, who was later to have a part in translating many of the Society’s publications into Portuguese, was a great help to Brother Young. For a time he also served as branch overseer in Portugal. He opened up much new territory in the state of Goiás, and a number of new congregations were organized there. Today, though over ninety years old, he still continues faithful in Jehovah’s service.

REACHING OUT FROM RIO DE JANEIRO

While the work at first centered on Rio, there was considerable interest aroused in São Paulo also. On one of his visits there in 1923, Brother Young gave the talk “The Bible and Spiritualism,” at the Musical Conservatory. One of his attentive listeners was Jacintho Pimentel Cabral. Pimentel eventually took his stand and readily offered his home as a meeting place for  Bible Students in São Paulo. Later he became a member of the Bethel family in Brazil.

About this same time, Brother Felino Bonfim d’Almeida, an employee of the Rio de Janeiro sanitation department, was moved to undertake a countrywide preaching tour. Success crowned his efforts, for a great amount of literature was placed. People still recall that humble, soft-spoken Colored man who first brought them the message.

Years later, too, he was privileged to work in exclusive apartment buildings in the famous Copacabana beach district of Rio. He knew that they needed the Bible’s message, even though obstacles had to be overcome to reach them with it. A white Portuguese sister, Maria Piedade, would pretend that she was a lady returning from the street market with a bag full of vegetables. Of course, the bag was carried by her “house servant,” none other than Brother Felino. When a number of ladies from those apartments would similarly return home from the market, the two would mix with them and thus were able to enter the apartment buildings. But, instead of groceries and vegetables in their bag, they would carry books and booklets explaining the Bible to be placed by the dozens in those exclusive apartment buildings. Brother Felino continued faithful until death, he ending his earthly ministry on August 24, 1955.

Close to the city of Rio de Janeiro is the state of Minas Gerais, rich in iron ore, gold, hydroelectric resources and cattle. It is also peopled by staunch Catholics, many of whom would consider it unthinkable to change their religion. However, Jehovah saw to it that the message reached that part of Brazil. How?

One day in February 1924, Isaías Lourenço Ferreira, ill in bed at the Navy’s Central Hospital at Ilhas das Cobras in Rio, was reading a booklet containing the Gospel of John when one of those first eight sailors met him and asked: “Do you like to read these things?” Isaías answered: “I like to read everything. What is good I keep, but the rest I leave.” After a brief conversation, Isaías asked for and received a Bible. When he later left the hospital he began to attend meetings and was baptized on August 10, 1924, jotting the date of his baptism down in that first Bible, which is still in his possession. Soon afterward he moved to Guarani, Minas Gerais, and began to preach there, while working in a small coffee-cleaning establishment. Many and joyous were his experiences.

One day, as he preached to a lady, the town priest stopped and told her: “Do not pay attention to this  man. This is Protestantism.” Isaías opened his Bible to 2 Timothy 3:8 and read: “Now in the way that Jannes and Jambres resisted Moses, so these also go on resisting the truth, men completely corrupted in mind, disapproved as regards the faith.” The priest left hurriedly.

In 1938, in a larger city, Juiz de Fora, Isaías was walking through the street market one day when he met Antônio Pereira Junior, a fruit vendor who showed considerable interest in the Scriptures. After some visits to his home, Brother Ferreira made an arrangement to go to the street market to help Antônio sell his fruits and then afterward they would go out together in the preaching work. Since Antônio had to go regularly to Rio de Janeiro for his supplies of fruit, he would also stop at the branch office and obtain supplies of literature.

As time went on, Brother Antônio arranged his business so as to be able to travel to other cities. In this way other strongholds of Catholicism like Santos Dumont, Barbacena, Conselherio Lafaiete, Belo Horizonte, Sabará, Nova Lima and Sete Lagoas were visited, and many seeds of truth were sown. On occasion, at Nova Lima, studies were even conducted in the mines, at 6,500 feet underground. In all these cities and many others, flourishing congregations eventually came into existence.

Meantime, Jehovah was gathering his “sheep” by many other means also. For example, in 1922 there was a group of former Baptists who organized a dissident class since they did not believe in the Trinity. One day the leader of the group found out about the Bible Students’ meeting place, attended one meeting and became convinced that he had found the truth. It did not take long before the entire group of eleven people joined the Bible Students at their regular meetings. Among these was a widow, Julieta Silva e Souza, a Colored woman who had lost her husband in the Spanish influenza epidemic. She became an earnest student of the Bible. Working as a housekeeper to maintain herself, she would find time to distribute the Kingdom message in printed form.

On one occasion she took 1,000 booklets to Resende, then quite a long train ride from Rio de Janeiro, and distributed them. She even went to the local Baptist church to convince some of its members, until she was thrown out. This sister later became one of the first special pioneers to be appointed in Brazil. She is still an active publisher in her old age.​—Ps. 37:28.

 CHANGES IN BRANCH PERSONNEL

In 1924 George Young left Brazil to carry on his work in Argentina and later in Europe. Left to care for the work was Manley Dienst. He was an employee of the Canadian Light and Power Company in Rio. Although he was a fine student of the Scriptures, he evidently did not have much experience in dealing with Christendom’s “wolves.” (Acts 20:29) During this period the meetings suffered and the work in general went into a period of decline. Then in 1925 Brother Rutherford sent John C. Rainbow to be branch overseer for Brazil. There was also a change at this time in the matter of printing the Society’s publications in Portuguese. Up till now it had been done by a commercial concern, but the headquarters of the Society now provided a small printing press, and Brother Rainbow invited Brother José Rufino da Silva to come to the Brazil Bethel and operate it. Brother Rufino had been a sailor and learned the truth through his fellow sailor, Januário S. Diniz, and was baptized in December 1925 by Brother Felino. He made Bethel service his life’s work.

The first issue of the Portuguese A Tôrre de Vigia to come off the Society’s own press was the issue of January 1926. From its small beginning with 300 copies, that flow of spiritual food has kept growing, to its present total of over 220,000 magazines each issue, these now being printed at Brooklyn.

The vigor of that small early organization of Jehovah’s people could not escape the attention of the seminary-educated clergy, who began to fear the results of such a Bible campaign. They tried to ridicule it in the public eye. A Presbyterian clergyman spoke abusively against the Bible Students, scorned their book Millions Now Living Will Never Die, threw it to the floor and stamped on it. It was quite a show before his church audience, but it only served to open the eyes of sincere ones present.

Early in 1926 Brother Rainbow found it necessary to return to the United States, and in his place Domingos Denovais Neves was assigned as branch overseer. During the ten and a half years of his administration of the Brazilian branch, difficulties arose among the Bible Students themselves, and consequently the work experienced very slight growth. It later developed that Brother Denovais lost the spirit of wholehearted cooperation with the Brooklyn headquarters of the Watch Tower Society. In 1932 he started publication of another monthly journal on his own, this known as A Luz da Verdade (In the Light of Truth). This was mainly a publication to carry on sterile debates with the  Protestant clergy. Even though it carried articles from The Golden Age from time to time, the truth is that Denovais was promoting his own publication. It was not long until the publication of A Tôrre de Vigia was completely stopped, while this other publication, A Luz da Verdade, kept on coming off the press.

CLOSER TIES WITH INTERNATIONAL HEADQUARTERS

Evidently many obstacles had yet to be overcome in order for the work in Brazil to make the same progress as in other lands. A report about the work in Brazil appeared in The Messenger of July 26, 1931, published at an international assembly of Jehovah’s people at Columbus, Ohio. It told of groups of Bible Students, Hungarian, German and Portuguese, and gave some indication that they were busily engaged in the spreading of the good news. However, that report did not give the complete picture. During September there were only twenty-one field workers in the entire country. In the next month the number went down to fourteen, eight of them in São Paulo and four in Rio. Certainly there was urgent need for help if the Kingdom work in Brazil was to move forward prosperously.

Jehovah faithfully saw to it that his organization in Brazil received help at the right time. Before publication of A Tôrre de Vigia was stopped, it carried two articles about Jehovah’s organization, showing clearly that elective elders had no place in it. Service was to be the key word. A few years later, President Rutherford of the Watch Tower Society sent another brother, Nathaniel A. Yuille, to administer the Kingdom work as branch representative for the Society. He was an engineer by profession, but, due to a leaky heart valve, he had retired in 1929. Soon thereafter he entered the full-time service as a proclaimer of the Kingdom. For many years he had been in charge of the witness work in San Francisco, California. Though sixty-three years old when he received notice of his new appointment, he willingly accepted the assignment and took with him his wife and a fellow pioneer, Antonio Pires de Andrade. Sister Yuille joined her husband in the work at the branch office and continued to serve faithfully with him. Brother Andrade also proved to be a fine help to Brother Yuille, particularly as an interpreter.

Brother Yuille soon saw that the branch quarters would be too small for the now-enlarged family and the new literature, phonographs and records, which were on their way from Brooklyn to the nearby port  of Santos. A suitable place was eventually found, a spacious two-story building with a basement, in the Vila Mariana district.

Having enjoyed the blessings of large conventions in the United States, Brother Yuille could appreciate the unifying features of such gatherings. Thus one of the first steps he took was to arrange for a convention in São Paulo in July 1936, to be held in the Vasco de Gama Hall in the Bras district. One hundred and ten persons attended this assembly. Brother Yuille assigned various brothers to speak, including José Rufino da Silva and Leoncio R. Turano, faithful men who had already become endeared to the brothers in Brazil. True to expectations, this assembly proved to be a great stimulus to the brothers.

MESSAGE SPREADS TO VARIOUS REGIONS

Over a decade before this, in the northeastern region, the Kingdom work got its start through the efforts of Brother Aristides Corrêa Pinho, then in the Merchant Marines, and who, in 1925, traveled to various ports, taking with him large quantities of the Society’s books and booklets. He would go to a church and introduce himself as a Bible Student. Hardly anyone knew what that involved, so they would allow him to speak to the congregation. In João Pessoa, Paraíba, though he had spoken at one small church about his hope of life, when he tried to do so again he was denied the opportunity, the local clergyman fearing to lose all his “sheep.”

In 1938 this same brother traveled to the state of Alagoas, forming in its capital city, Maceió, the nucleus of a future congregation. In 1940 Brother Pinho was sent as a pioneer to the state of Pernambuco. In its capital city, Recife, known as the “Brazilian Venice” because of its port and many rivers, he helped to organize a congregation, one of the fifteen in the entire country at that time. One year later the first baptism took place there, and two of the seven persons baptized entered the pioneer service right away. Brother Pinho recalls that at that time there was considerable hunger and thirst for the truth in Pernambuco. His placements were around 175 bound books and 500 booklets a month, besides as many magazines as he could obtain. When literature happened to be in short supply, he would simply ask those obtaining it to pass it on to somebody else after reading it. He recalls even collecting some of the magazines, pressing them with a charcoal iron and using them again, in this way spreading the Kingdom  message wider during that period when literature was lacking.

In the south of the country, too, seeds were being sown. Sometime around 1927, Alexandre Gauze was talking with one of his neighbors close to the city of Erechim and saw in his hand a booklet about the Bible. It appears that the neighbor had received the booklet from a relative in New York. Alexandre asked if he might read the booklet, and later he wrote the Society for more information. After reading the other available publications he loaned them to his brother-in-law, Bronislau Komka (born in Kraczewice, Lubin, Poland). Komka, who had been a sabbath-keeping Adventist, read these precious truths in the Watch Tower publications and tried to convey the information to his in-laws, but with little success.

Meantime, Alexandre Gauze was visited by a “pilgrim” or traveling representative of the Society, namely, Paulo Sadove. Sadove also visited Santa Rosa, where Brother Komka was now living, and stayed with him for some ten days. During that time he was able to review some basic Bible teachings and disclosed the falsity of the teachings of immortality of the soul, hellfire torment, the Trinity, and so forth. He also stressed the need to preach in order to aid others.

Eventually Brother Gauze moved to Santa Rosa, and together he and Brother Komka went out preaching. It was a shock for the Adventist preacher to hear of this, since they were still considered members of his church. He became furious and expelled them from the Adventist sect. This was quite agreeable to them. Now they felt free to preach, and they met with excellent success.

Preaching in those days was no easy matter. There were many Germans who were decidedly pro-Hitler and pro-Nazi, and several times the lives of Brother Komka and his associates were threatened. Once they accepted the hospitality of a kind man, and after talking to him for hours about the truth they prepared to go to bed. Suddenly loud voices were heard outside the house. Several people who had obtained literature during that day had by then read part of the booklet Escape to the Kingdom in the Polish language. They did not like the accurate representation of their clergy that was given in that booklet, and so tried to convince the host to expel the brothers from his house. However, he showed himself fearless, rejecting their demands and refusing to allow anyone to enter his home to harm his guests.

 Through the perseverance of these brothers the message spread to many different places. In 1940 Brother Komka was appointed as overseer of the Erechim congregation. In August of 1943 another congregation was formed in Getúlio Vargas, having as its overseer Manoel Skrzek, also of Polish origin.

In the state of Santa Catarina there was the largest German colony in Brazil. Indeed, if a person did not speak German he would experience difficulty in getting around in that part of the country. Even Colored people on some farms in the interior spoke only German. Eventually, however, the government decided that foreign-language schools were instilling a nationalistic spirit that would prove to be divisive in Brazil. So it was decreed that all school courses be taught in Portuguese. In due time this proved to be beneficial to the preaching work.

The uncertain conditions in Europe drove many to immigrate to Brazil, and, for the most part, they settled in Santa Catarina. For example, in 1935 Theodor and Alexander Mertin, both pioneers from Germany, settled in Blumenau. They continued their pioneer service and visited people in the cities and villages in the Itajaí River valley. Later they invited another couple, Leopoldo Koenig and his wife Ida, to work with them in this beautiful region, so reminiscent of Switzerland. Brother Koenig, born in Austria, as well as his wife, had been pioneers in Europe since the 1920’s. In Brazil they continued their pioneer service. He was an enthusiastic Witness who used to go to the doors, saying: “I am preaching the good news of God’s kingdom.”

In the state of Bahia, in the northeast, could be seen the evidences of the period when slaves were brought from Africa to serve the Portuguese colonists. One can find here undeniable proof that false religion is truly a snare and a racket. While ornate churches abound, the majority of the people, largely Colored, suffered under great duress, without schools and the basic amenities of life. In due time many recognized who were responsible for this condition and soon the churches became empty. To avoid the shame of decaying religious buildings, the government decided to do something, using a special department, the Historical Patrimony Service. It restored some of these churches as show places and museums, where people can still go and visualize “the dainty things and the gorgeous things” that once were part of Babylon the Great.​—Rev. 18:14-17.

In the year 1934 Professor George Shakhashiri, a Witness, arrived by boat in Salvador, capital of the  state of Bahia, on his way to visit his fleshly brother in São Paulo. At this port of call he used his time visiting Lebanese friends and relatives and placing much Arabic Bible literature. Someone told him about a certain Amim Jorge Jacob Darzé who was also one of Jehovah’s witnesses. After a search, he finally located him on the day before his boat was due to sail.

Darzé had been born close to the cedars of Lebanon, on May 20, 1914. His family had migrated to Brazil in 1925. Since they were quite poor he set out to sell everything he could get his hands on, becoming what is known in Brazil as a mascate or itinerant salesman. He married a Baptist girl and became actively associated with that religion, but its hypocrisy and its practices increased his thirst for the truth. During the brief contact with Shakhashiri all of Darzé’s questions about the soul, heaven, hell and the Trinity were satisfactorily answered, and he was overjoyed at having at last found what he was looking for. That selfsame day he took his stand for the truth. Shakhashiri left him much Arabic literature and promised to send more literature in Portuguese from São Paulo.

When Darzé severed his connections with the Baptist Church, the Baptist clergyman came to visit him, trying to find out what had happened to his favorite Sunday-school teacher. But, this time, he was preached to, instead of preaching. He excused himself as not having time, and promised to come back and discuss the Bible on another occasion. To this day that promise has not been kept. Brother Darzé was baptized in 1935. His home became a center for Bible study. In June of 1945 a congregation was eventually organized in Salvador, with Brother Darzé as overseer.

The state of Amazonas, with its vast jungles, is also included in “all the inhabited earth” in which the good news of the Kingdom must be preached. (Matt. 24:14) It is one of the few immense sections of the earth that have, to a large degree, missed being polluted through civilization. Its population is widely scattered, and here the Indian can still be found in his native habitat. In 1931 someone sent Bible tracts to several Baptist churches in this region. On the occasion of a visit to his sister, Zeno de Oliveira Simões, who headed one of these churches in the Pesqueira district, noticed one of the tracts about hell and another about the resurrection hope tacked to the wall of her living room. Several times Zeno had discussed these subjects with his fleshly brother, Guilherme, who did not believe in hellfire because, as he said, “a God of love could not create such a place.” Zeno decided to take the tracts  to his brother and show him that there was a religion that believed as he did. At that time Guilherme was living in Manaquiri, a small settlement close to the lake of the same name. Guilherme lost no time. He wrote immediately to the branch office in São Paulo asking for literature. Without any other help these two men learned the truth and convinced their families also. In that year, 1931, the first congregation was organized in the Amazon jungle at Manaquiri. It soon grew to have seventy associates, including many children, and for some time was the largest congregation of Jehovah’s people in Brazil. To share in preaching the good news, this enthusiastic group would travel by rowboat to different settlements bordering the Solimões River and its tributaries.

BOLDLY BROADCASTING THE GOOD NEWS

In the effort to reach more of Brazil’s huge population, in 1937 the brothers in the branch at São Paulo arranged for the radio station in that city to broadcast Judge Rutherford’s five-minute lectures three times a week in Spanish, English and German. The contract was for one year. For almost four months the program went on, but then, in April, the station succumbed to the direct pressure of the Catholic Hierarchy and refused to carry any more programs. Other programs were broadcast in Rio Claro, in the state of São Paulo, but on one occasion the “Purgatory” record was played, and that was too much for the town’s priest. The record was played to its end, but the station refused to carry any more of the Society’s programs.

Nevertheless, another powerful instrument in the advancement of the preaching work in São Paulo was the sound car, put into operation first in March of 1937. This sound car was a 1936 Chevrolet with an amplifier mounted on its top. For some eight and a half months this means of sounding out the Kingdom message was used every week in public parks, such as the Jardim da Luz and the Praça República, right in the center of the city. The recordings would be played in several languages. The sound car was also effectively used on holidays, and in cemeteries on “All Souls’ Day.” The clergy, of course, became incensed at this bold public proclamation and brought pressure to bear on the local authorities. One of the city officials, Mr. Carlos Lopes, forcibly stopped a talk. He demanded that a city license for the sound car be obtained before it could be used for this special purpose.

When the Society made the proper request to the city mayor, no answer was forthcoming. Then another  petition was presented on December 31, with the same result. Nevertheless, the car continued to sound out the good news. In January 1938 the license plates were bought and attached to the car and the due tax was paid, but the transit authorities refused to seal the plates. The result was that the police would continually stop the car to ask why the plates were not sealed. This gave opportunity for a good witness on each occasion, and often literature was placed. Finally, Brother Yuille asked Dr. Pio Alvin, the subdirector of the transit department, the reason for this refusal. A gentleman who happened to be present suggested: “Mr. Yuille, why do you not take off the loudspeaker, seal the plates, and then put the loudspeaker back on?” Dr. Alvin interrupted, saying: “No. Mr. Yuille is too honest to do such a thing. I am ordering that the license plates be sealed today!”

At this time too the phonograph, as a means of declaring the good news of the Kingdom, had been introduced, and by 1937 some twenty of them were already being carried in the field service by the publishers. Though records were not at the time available in Portuguese, Spanish ones were used to good effect. Records were also available in English, Italian, German, Dutch, Polish and French. In October of 1938 the first Portuguese record became available, one side having the talk entitled “Jehovah” and the other side the talk “Riches.” These records were indeed a delight to the brothers and were effectively used to make known the good news.

A SOURCE OF SPIRITUAL STRENGTH

As the field ministry kept on gaining momentum there was felt an urgent need to begin the republishing of A Tôrre de Vigia, that is, the Portuguese Watchtower. Thus in March 1937 the first issue came out with Isaiah 43:10-12 on the front cover. It was to be a monthly journal following as closely as possible the English magazine.

While the publication of A Tôrre de Vigia was being resumed, the country was undergoing great changes. The drift was toward a dictatorial form of government. Efforts were made to register the Society with the government, and these efforts finally succeeded in November 1937. The Society registered by the English name, Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society, as a branch office of the American Society. At the time this was considered to be a wise move, protecting the Society’s property to some extent against expropriation.

Just a few days before registration was complete, a  victory was won in the Third Chamber of the Tax and Revenue Court in São Paulo when the Society was declared exempt from payment of any tax on its literature. Under the law, publishers, as ministers of the gospel, would not have to pay any sales tax, and also the literature could freely cross state borders without any interference.

In the years 1937, 1938 and 1939 some fine assemblies were featured in such cities as São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Curitiba, happy assemblies at which the brothers were able to enjoy fellowship and rejoice at the baptism of many new ones who were thronging into the organization of Jehovah’s people. It was at these assemblies that the brothers came to appreciate how Jehovah directs his earthly organization in a strictly theocratic arrangement.

In the earlier years meetings were considered to be mainly for brothers. Attendance of women and children was not stressed. However, articles on the subject “Children” were published in the winter issues of A Tôrre de Vigia in 1938. Soon several young ones began to be taken to the meetings and to accompany their parents in the field ministry. This was but the beginning of their swiftly growing share in the work as “Children of the King.”

THE “MASTER OF THE HARVEST” SENDS MORE WORKERS

By 1939 the situation in Europe had deteriorated rapidly. Many pioneers, unable to continue their service there, volunteered to be used by the Society in foreign fields. The transfer was arranged through the Society’s Central European office. Some of these brothers had served for many years as pioneers. Others had worked in branches now closed by the Nazi regime, while still others had had experience as circuit overseers (then known as zone servants).

Among the newcomers to Brazil were many who showed outstanding zeal for Jehovah. Otto Estelmann, of German birth, had been a “zone servant” in Czechoslovakia. A baptized Witness since December 26, 1920, he knew what it meant to fall into the hands of the Nazi secret police, and he was almost caught by the Gestapo when transferring the records of the closed Czechoslovakian branch office to Switzerland. When he arrived in Brazil in 1939 he was forty-four years of age. He worked in Curitiba, in the state of Paraná, and in several other cities, such as Santa Maria, Ijuí and Santa Cruz in Rio Grande do Sul. He suffered much persecution  in Brazil​—the country where he had hoped that he could freely follow his sacred mission in life. He served several prison terms, the longest being twenty-two months. Why? He was suspected of being a German spy! Nonetheless, Brother Estelmann was a faithful servant of Jehovah.

Another European Witness who came to Brazil was Erich Kattner, who had served in the Bethel home in Prague. His first assignment in Brazil was the rural area of northwest Rio Grande do Sul. Preaching in those rural areas was not an easy matter. To get to his territory he had to spend four days and nights traveling in a jerky train, and then make the last thirty-one miles by truck. After days or a week of hard work on the farm with the brothers, he and others would go from farm to farm witnessing to Poles, Germans, Russians and Italians. Often they would sleep in the open, using their literature bag as a pillow. Since most people worked in the fields, the brothers would wake up early in the morning and witness until 7 a.m., adjusting their schedule to that of the farmers. The witnessing work would frequently continue until the late hours of the evening.

Brother Kattner soon acquired a good command of the Portuguese language and was invited to work at the Brazilian Bethel in 1944. Then he attended the sixteenth class of Gilead and was assigned back to Brazil, where he served for a time as both circuit and district overseer before returning to Bethel in 1953. There he is still serving faithfully in the translation department.

Herman Bruder and Horst Wild, with their wives, also came to Brazil from Europe. En route their ship changed course and went to French Morocco, where the brothers suffered imprisonment and mistreatment as suspected Nazis. When they finally reached Brazil in February 1940, they were imprisoned again for the same reason, suspected of being German spies. However, they endured their trials and have shown their willingness to be used in any way possible in the advancement of the Kingdom work. Brother Wild has served for many years as city overseer in São Paulo, and, until June 1971, as a director of the Society in Brazil.

Thus, while all these brothers left a Europe threatened by Nazi military dictatorship, they found in Brazil a country caught between two extremes. On the one hand were the Italian Catholics influenced by Fascism and the German Catholics who wanted to get on the Nazi bandwagon, while, on the other hand, there  were many who thought highly of democracy. It was only after the Nazi-Fascist adepts, then called “integralistas,” tried to kill the president of Brazil, Getulio Vargas, on May 11, 1938, that the eyes of the Brazilian government began to be opened to the real source of danger.

ANTI-KINGDOM PRESSURES MOUNT

In 1939 the powerful message contained in the booklets Face the Facts and Fascism or Freedom was boldly publicized in Brazil. Information marches by Witnesses bearing large placards were used to advertise the special meetings in connection with these booklets and their distribution. This provoked a powerful reaction from the clergy. The city police and other officials began to harass the brothers at the branch office and to set up all kinds of obstacles against the free progress of our work. On August 26, 1939, some thirty Witnesses put on their sandwich signs and stationed themselves at many of the busiest locations in the city. A few managed to complete their work and return home safely. But the majority, including the branch overseer, was arrested and imprisoned for about twenty-two hours under trying conditions.

Two weeks later a police officer was sent to the branch office to arrest the branch overseer again, and, later on, other officers were sent to confiscate all booklets. Some two thousand of the offending booklets had already been seized, and the police ordered that the remaining fifty cartons be held until a superior decision was handed down. People in Brazil, meantime, were beginning to notice that this work was not a small thing done in a corner; it was a worldwide preaching work, ordained by Jehovah himself. For example, the newspaper Fôlha do Brasil, of São Paulo, on July 23, 1939, published a picture of a brother who was assaulted by Catholic Action rioters who unsuccessfully tried to break up an assembly of Jehovah’s witnesses at Madison Square Garden in New York. Readers were informed that 18,000 people were at that convention, most of them interested in the special Bible message delivered by J. F. Rutherford.

Pressure against the work kept mounting until, on May 31, 1940, the Society was notified that the Minister of Justice had ordered the banning of the Society in Brazil. On June 30 the Society’s official representative went to the office of the Minister of Justice accompanied by the Society’s lawyer and delivered to him a letter explaining the Society’s work in detail. However, the  decision to ban the Society was maintained. Then, in December, the authorities again arrested the branch overseer, Brother Yuille, detaining him for a few hours, while seizure was made of some 20,000 of the booklet Fascism or Freedom.

That was truly a time of test for all the brothers. At first they kept meeting at the Kingdom Hall on Riachuelo Street, São Paulo, but always with someone on guard in case the police should come. Since the hall had two entrances, the one on guard would stay at the main entrance and so, by the time the police arrived, the brothers had already left by the other door. Later, the authorities closed the hall, but the brothers kept on meeting in private homes. The branch too was laboring under great difficulties, but the brothers had faith in Jehovah’s protection, and not a single issue of the magazines was missed. More than that, the field service went on despite imprisonments and confiscations. The 20,000 booklets that had been seized were later returned and put to good use.

In a move to divert attention from the name A Tôrre de Vigia, then under investigation by the authorities, it was decided in 1940 to change the name of our principal publication to A Atalaia, Anunciando o Reino de Jeová. However, the Adventists, who had a magazine with a similar name, brought pressure upon the government Department of the Press and Propaganda, which, in turn, ordered the Society not to use the name. Thus, in January 1943, the name was changed to A Sentinela, which means Sentinel or Watchman. The word ‘sentinela’ appears at Isaiah 21:6 in the Brasileira Version of the Bible. Under this new name the magazine has continued to provide spiritual food for the brothers right down to the present.

The enthusiasm with which the brothers carried on the work under difficulties moved the clergy to increase the pressure against them. Some of the brothers who had gone from Rio de Janeiro to help with the work in the state of Amazonas were severely persecuted. Under clergy influence the people stoned them, their literature was confiscated and some of them were imprisoned. Not until 1945 did the pressure diminish after a legal suit had been undertaken and won.

Brothers Estelmann and Kattner, in Rio Grande do Sul, were arrested on August 29, 1940, and a few days later were taken to Livramento on the Uruguayan border, threatened with physical mistreatment and death, and told to leave the country, as if they had entered it illegally. It was not until two years later, on  appeal to the higher authorities in Rio de Janeiro, that their situation improved.

BRANCH OFFICE MOVED

Back in 1939, the Society’s president, Brother Rutherford, recommended that the branch office be moved to Rio de Janeiro, the capital of the country. This, it was believed, would allow the work to be carried on with less interference and the branch would be more in the center of things. After some two years of searching, suitable quarters were finally located at 330 Licínio Cardoso Street.

In preparing to make the move to Rio, the printing of the magazines was speeded up in advance so as to guarantee the supply during the transfer. This was providential, since, on December 31, 1940, the Department of Hygiene of São Paulo, not being able to find any other fault, decided that the printing press was in an unsuitable location and could not be operated anymore until a better place was found. The press needed overhauling and cleaning anyway before the move to Rio, so the Society used an outside printing establishment until the Society’s own press began to hum again in its new home in Rio de Janeiro. Brothers gladly contributed or loaned money to assist in the purchase of this new location. The house was surrounded by beautiful flowering trees that later provided soothing shade and delicious fruits for the family, while a small vegetable garden in the back provided wholesome food. This change also brought new life to the Rio de Janeiro congregation, then almost at a standstill.

Once settled in the new location, the branch organization quickly organized assemblies for that year 1941, one in Rio de Janeiro and the other in São Paulo, at which there was a total attendance of 230, and 24 were baptized. In this same year arrangements were made for a number of brothers to move to different regions and work territory in a systematic way. The results were indeed splendid.

PIONEER FAMILY ON THE MOVE

In the state of Minas Gerais, for example, an area where seeds of truth had long before been planted despite the domination of the Catholic clergy, an intensive watering work was now undertaken. Early in 1941 Brother Basilio Korolkovas with his two sons and a daughter-in-law were assigned to work all the cities and areas along the “Central” railroad line, from Afonso Arinos to Belo Horizonte, the state capital.

 Beginning at Juiz de Fora as their base of operations, they called on the chief of police and were assured full freedom to carry on their work. However, the bishop protested, and from the loudspeaker of the main church he kept on shouting his accusations against the brothers and against Brother Rutherford. Many people there did not agree with him, however, and they obtained over 300 books and 2,000 booklets.

When they moved on to Santos Dumont, they found that conditions were not favorable there. The town priest had them arrested and thrown into a prison cell. The policeman in charge, under strong Catholic influence, said that the literature was pro-Communist and that the brothers were subversives. Finally, when nothing could be done against them, all their documents as aliens being in order, they were set free. Quite undiscouraged they traveled on to Barbacena, the next city on their prearranged route, a place high in the cool mountain air. Their fichas, or police records, were already there ahead of them, and the chief of police gave them a free hand to work all the towns in that vicinity.

The Korolkovas family had also worked in the São Paulo area and in such cities as Baurú, Lins, Marília, Cafelândia, Pompéia, Araraquara and Jaboticabal. They found that following the suggestion of the organization to visit the chief of police first resulted in their being able to work quite peacefully in most of these places. In all this area they distributed many copies of the book Enemies and the booklet Judge Rutherford Uncovers Fifth Column.

Included in their territory was the great Japanese colony of this region, especially around Marília, Garça, Gália and Tupã, where a thorough witness was given, and some took their stand for Jehovah. Through the branch office Brother Korolkovas was able to obtain books in Japanese, some of them quite old. These Brother Korolkovas placed for whatever contribution was offered. There were some days when he personally would place as many as 30 books, and in one month he placed 403 books and 501 booklets.

This truly pioneer family had full trust in Jehovah. They had left the comforts of São Paulo, turning over their home for the use of other pioneers who could not travel, and moved into areas where there was real need for the Kingdom witness to be given. When they would arrive in a city they would get accommodations in a reasonably cheap pensão (a middle-class boardinghouse). They would work from door to door first in the commercial area and then on the farms and in little  villages nearby. One can easily imagine how difficult this was in the rainy season when mud was everywhere. After working eight to ten hours in the field they would return, often walking ten miles, to the pensão for a bath and a good night’s rest. Their literature bags would be full of oranges, bananas and the fruits of the season, which they had received in exchange for literature.

The two younger girls of the family, Zina and Zenaide, were fearless and bold despite their tender years. In Garça, a Japanese colonization center, these young girls were working in the town while their father and brother went to work in the rural area. After working for four hours in the morning, they sat down in the shade to eat their lunch. A police investigator came and asked to see what they had in their bags. When he saw the Japanese Riches books, he took the girls to the police station. All the literature was taken from them, and they were told to quit preaching. The police thought their threats would be enough for these young girls. However, when they left the station they just went back to their pensão, filled their bags with literature, and went on to work in another part of town. Next morning they went to the police station to recover their literature. The chief of police, who had already examined it, returned all except for one copy, which he insisted on keeping for himself.

The service of this family was truly blessed, for in this area a number of groups flourished in the following years. Results of these zealous activities can be measured by the number of persons who accepted the good news. The first baptism held in São José do Rio Prêto, where the Korolkovas family had been working, included ten persons, three of whom later served as pioneers in Curitiba. Also baptized on that occasion was João Batista Siqueira, who had been a Presbyterian minister. At the age of seventy-three he had learned the truth and had become the first publisher in São José do Rio Prêto. A Japanese family also took their stand, the head of the family being Suzo Sakiama. In two years’ time the congregation there grew to twenty-eight publishers besides the pioneers.

Besides inducing the police to interfere continually with the Kingdom publishers, the clergy also used tax officials to harass the pioneers. These officials would stop the pioneers and request payment of the sales tax for “selling” books. In Itápolis, book stores and printing establishments, under urging by the priests, complained about unauthorized selling of books. However, Jehovah’s people had gained a victory in this  regard in the United States, and the article about this Supreme Court victory was published in the Consolação for February 1944. When this article was shown to the tax officials it helped them to understand that this was not a book-selling campaign but, rather, a good Christian work. As a result, in Itápolis and neighboring cities, 678 books and 1,511 booklets were placed as well as hundreds of magazines. The victory in the United States, besides gladdening the hearts of Jehovah’s people there, also contributed to the advancement of the work in Brazil.

A FARMER AND HIS FAMILY SHARE IN THE INGATHERING

In the southern part of the state of São Paulo, Adolphe Messmer, one of the European brothers who came to Brazil in 1939, was busy preaching the good news and placing thousands of pieces of literature. Close to Cândido Mota he came across Antônio Pestana Junior, a farmer, and, after playing a record in Spanish, offered him the book Riches. Antônio gave him his address and asked Messmer to write to him. Imagine his surprise the following year when he received an invitation from Brother Messmer to attend an assembly in São Paulo!

Antônio had little money, because farmers were then undergoing a serious financial crisis. But he got his bag ready to travel, and on his way to the train station borrowed money from a friend for the trip. His faith was rewarded. After attending and enjoying the assembly Antônio returned home, having decided to become a Witness and to help his large family to learn the truth. All his grain had been bought by a government buyer who was waiting for him on his return, so enabling him to pay off his debts. As time went on, he and others of his family progressed in the truth and started to spread the message in neighboring towns. The first congregation to be organized in the area in 1943 at a place called Água do Almôço was one of the immediate results.

In Antônio’s neighborhood lived a barber, Manoel Luiz de Oliveira, who was very pugnacious and usually carried a big knife or a sickle. He had sworn in public that he would not allow any of those “Protestants” to preach in his vicinity and had promised Antônio such a beating that he would be glad to give up his preaching. One Sunday he appeared at Antônio’s home, but instead of carrying a sickle he had a booklet entitled “The Crisis.” His visit was a peaceful one. He had  come to ask Antônio to explain the message contained in the booklet and to check it with the Bible. At that time Antônio was one of the very few in the district who possessed a Bible. Manoel also borrowed the book Riches from Antônio and agreed to have a study. Later he became Antônio’s fellow preacher, and they were baptized on the same day in October 1939 in a hole they had dug near a river for that purpose.

Antônio Pestana was also richly blessed in his own family, for three of his sons, Édison, Steffenson and Emerson, became pioneers and served in Bethel and in the circuit work. His two daughters married faithful brothers who served in the circuit and district work, one of them, Sister Enides Dias, being now a member of the Bethel family. Antônio’s son, Édison, who commenced pioneering in his teens, had the privilege of opening many new territories in Campinas, Assis and other places. Later he served in Bethel and then, after his marriage, served in the circuit work until their first child was born. Now a father of several children, he still serves as an overseer in the city of São Vicente in the state of São Paulo.

MOVING TO AREAS OF GREATER NEED

The message of the Kingdom reached out into the remoter regions of the country by means of persons who gained a knowledge of the truth in the city and later moved to where there was greater need. One such instance was that of Sister Maria Bérgamo de Souza and her family. As early as 1941 she had obtained the books Riches and Religion. However, when she started reading the book Riches she found out that it did not contain any secret formula for material wealth. She read the book Religion and learned that all false religion is demon-inspired. But for some reason she put the books aside for a time. It was only after one of her daughters had died and a Witness called on her to comfort her that her interest really sparked into a flame. She then had a study conducted in her home and began to cultivate a deep interest in spiritual things. She realized that in order to progress in knowledge of the Bible she would have to learn something of the order of the Bible books. So she arranged sixty-six sheets of paper, each one with the name of a Bible book on it. She would mix them up and then try to put them in the proper order again. She was soon able to handle the Bible with ease.

When the family moved to Assis in early 1943 five of its members were already Witnesses. Her mother  could not read, so she patiently taught her to read the Bible. Later, when the Cândido Mota congregation was organized, the whole family attended there, even though this meant considerable travel for them. Finally, in September 1947, a congregation was formed at Assis, and Brother and Sister Souza were blessed by seeing their oldest son, Sílvio, assigned to aid in oversight of the congregation, with Brother Édison Pestana Borges as congregation overseer. Later, when Brother Édison went to work in Campinas, Sílvio became an overseer at the age of seventeen. Sister Souza’s blessings were to increase still more, for Sílvio was invited into the circuit work in the northeastern region of Brazil, and her other son, Valdemar, entered special pioneer service and was assigned to work in Franca. Then, to top off the blessings of this family, Sister Souza’s brother David, who had been a Mariano (a member of a Catholic order that honors Mary), accepted the truth and shared in spreading the Kingdom message.

Meantime, the eastern part of the state of São Paulo was also receiving a witness. In 1940, João Stein and Henrique Raif received their first assignment to work the towns from Mogí das Cruzes to Aparecida do Norte, a strong center of Catholicism. Brother Stein was born in Germany in 1899 and had tasted the horrors of World War I. He first heard the truth from a fellow coalminer in Germany in 1920. Eventually he moved to Brazil and around 1936, while working in the metal workshop of his fleshly brother, he was visited by Leopold Koenig, who also had come from Europe. Koenig invited Stein to go out with him in the field service, and the invitation was accepted. He had already made his dedication but did not fully appreciate the importance of preaching. After symbolizing his dedication by water baptism in June 1940, however, Brother Stein volunteered for pioneer service, ready to go wherever needed.

The first city where Brother Stein worked was Taubaté, an important textile center located amid coffee plantations. The presence of two foreigners caused quite a sensation in the town, as Brother Stein recalls, and few placements were made. The bishop published a strong article in the parochial journal mentioning the dangers of the literature distributed by “these foreigners.” Brother Stein’s partner became fearful and decided to leave. Brother Stein continued on alone in the district. While working in a small town called São Luiz do Paraitinga, he was arrested and ordered by the chief of police not to do any more preaching. The chief was fearful for Stein’s life, since previously some  Protestants had had their musical instruments smashed and some of them had been hospitalized. Brother Stein told the police officer that he was not afraid of men, so the chief sent him to his superior in the seaport of Ubatuba. The journey was made at night in a truck carrying tiles, and Stein bore with him a letter to the chief of police there.

Brother Stein was pleasantly surprised not to find any opposition in Ubatuba. When he completed work there he decided to travel northward to a city called Sapé. While waiting for a truck going in that direction he found a priest also waiting at the truck terminal. The priest, who was also a German citizen, began to ask Stein where he was going. After talking for a while he revealed to Stein that the chief of police in Ubatuba had asked him about what to do with Stein. The priest had observed the kind way Stein acted while in Ubatuba and advised the chief he should leave Stein alone. When the truck finally arrived the driver said he was not allowed to carry anyone without a police permit, which Stein did not have. However, the priest used his influence to obtain the permit for Stein so that he could travel to his next preaching destination.

Brother Stein, years later, returned to São Paulo due to health problems and was privileged to serve there as a pioneer and overseer of a congregation that divided time after time to form new congregations. Even in his old age, in 1958 he accepted the Society’s invitation to work where the need was greater and moved to São Carlos in the state of São Paulo, where he is still serving faithfully as a pioneer and overseer of a congregation he helped to organize. In his more than thirty years of continuous service as a pioneer Brother Stein always had in mind Jehovah’s promise: “I will by no means leave you nor by any means forsake you.”​—Heb. 13:5.

The beautiful city of Santos, principal port of Brazil and only thirty-five miles from São Paulo, also received its opportunity to hear the truth. It was in 1940 that Alfred Antunes Isidoro began to work the city systematically. He also preached in the beach resorts of Guarujá, São Sebastião Island and Caraguatatuba, using a boat. Then in 1941 Antônio Pires de Andrade, who had come to Brazil with Brother and Sister Yuille, went to work in Santos. By 1945 a congregation was formed there and it acted as the springboard from which the good news was carried to all cities in the vicinity.

About the same time a Swiss immigrant, Anna Ott, received a witness while visiting in the home of a friend in Salvador. Anna had been a member of an  evangelical church in Switzerland. As far back as 1922 her father and mother had had some contact with the Witnesses or had heard about their activities. But no one in the family really understood what it was all about at the time. However, when the message again reached Anna Ott in Brazil many years later she became deeply interested in knowing about the “millions now living” who would survive the end of this system of things.

Anna had married a Swiss cattle raiser and cocoa farmer and was living in a little village called Itapebi in the southern part of the state of Bahia. When her first child was expected she traveled to Salvador for better medical attention, and it was there that the message reached her. Her host was not interested in the message presented by the Witness at his door and asked Anna if she would be interested in this new religion. Anna listened, and a few days later the Witness returned to bring her, not just one, but eight books and several booklets in German, English, French, Italian and Portuguese. Two months later, when she had returned to her home in the interior, these books filled her empty hours with activity that gave her a basic knowledge of the Scriptures as well as strong faith.

When she returned to Salvador one year later she was visited again by the same Witness who had brought the message to her on the previous occasion. She asked the Witness how she knew that she was again in Salvador. The Witness replied: “Well, I just remembered I had not worked this street for quite some time and decided to do so today. Now, about our study​—let’s get on with it!” Invited to the Kingdom Hall, Anna accepted, but on their way there the streetcar ran off the tracks. “This is a bad sign,” said Anna, expressing her desire to return to the house. “No, let’s go on,” said the Witness. “I know it is the Devil who wants to stop us.” Well, Anna attended the meeting, and in February 1942 she was baptized. Years later her untiring efforts resulted in, not just one congregation in the interior, but several of them, with hundreds of persons sharing her unshakable faith.

BEGINNING OF THE ELISHA PERIOD

Just as the work of Elijah the prophet came to its close and was succeeded by the zealous activity of Elisha his successor, so also, following a period of witnessing comparable to that of Elijah, a new push seemed to be given to the activities of the brothers here in Brazil. Though the death of Brother Rutherford,  the second president of the Society, came as a shock to the brothers, their heavy hearts were lightened when they learned that Nathan H. Knorr had been appointed as the new president of the Society. They were confident that the work would push ahead victoriously under Jehovah’s direction through Christ.

In September 1942 Brazil was included in the chain of eighty assemblies to be linked with that held in Cleveland, Ohio, the “New World Theocratic Assembly.” For the public talk the Hotel Terminus, an exclusive place in the center of São Paulo, was engaged. A total of 721 persons were present on Sunday when Brother Adelino dos Anjos Gomes delivered the special discourse “Peace​—Can It Last?”

With the growth of the organization it became apparent that, due to the large distances involved, one assembly could no longer care for all brothers and interested persons in Brazil. So in 1943 six assemblies were organized, in São Paulo, Salvador, Porto Alegre, Manaus, Rio de Janeiro and in Curitiba. The result was that many brothers in Brazil were able to attend an assembly for the first time, accompanied by many newly interested ones. Placards and thousands of handbills were used to advertise the public lecture at these assemblies. It is true that clergy action managed to silence the public lecture in Salvador, but not before a great deal of fine advertising of the Kingdom had taken place. For the assembly in Manaus, right in the Amazon jungle, the brothers did not have the assistance of anyone from the branch office. Nevertheless, they set aside the days for the assembly and held meetings and engaged in the field ministry, with the result that 16 publishers spent 249 hours in the field, made 28 return visits and placed 153 pieces of literature. They demonstrated their full trust in Jehovah’s organization. Jehovah was surely preparing his people here in Brazil for greater expansion still to come.

Meantime the brothers in Brazil were receiving training in the matter of public speaking, for beginning in August 1942, a series of articles began to be published in the Consolação on the subject “Presenting This Gospel of the Kingdom.” It explained how to study, how to make an outline, how to use the Society’s publications, how to present the message, the reason for different Bible translations, composition, argumentation, and so on. And certainly this training could well be considered one of the reasons why the 1944 assemblies proved more enthusiastic than any prior to them. Around Memorial time the Society arranged assemblies in Pôrto Alegre, Curitiba, São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro,  Salvador and Manaus. On this occasion, the assembly in São Paulo enjoyed an attendance of 436 persons. At Salvador, where the police had interfered with the assembly in the previous year, the same facilities were rented, and Brother Darzé made a written application to the police for permission to hold the assembly. When no reply was received, he went personally to see the chief of police, who proved to be a very fair and unbiased man. He had not granted the permission because, apparently, one of his subordinates had held up the application owing to prejudice. However, just two days before the assembly approval was granted, to the great joy of the publishers, and 108 persons came to hear the public talk.

FACING THE OPPOSITION WITH BOLDNESS

It will be recalled that when the nations were plunged into the second world war, Brazil at first had expressed sympathy for the Axis powers, to which it was closely linked by its large number of German and Italian immigrants, as well as strong Catholic influence. However, after the rightist attack against the presidential palace in 1938, President Getulio Vargas, already empowered with dictatorial authority, had a change of view. Later, when the United States was attacked in Pearl Harbor in December 1941, President Vargas sent Roosevelt a telegram of solidarity.

Brazil had already signed the Havana Declaration of 1940, according to which an attack against any nation of the Americas would be considered an attack against them all. Furthermore, Brazil took the initiative to call a special conference of all American chancellors to meet at its capital, Rio de Janeiro, in January 1942. At its conclusion, Oswaldo Aranha announced that the Brazilian government had cut off diplomatic relations with the Axis powers.

Naturally the tensions of those times affected the preaching of the good news in the country. Every assembly suffered restrictions and interference. The branch office had to move from São Paulo to Rio de Janeiro because of continued harassment. Literature was seized, some of it completely lost. Legal battles also required funds and energy on the part of zealous servants who wanted to keep the door open to search for and feed the Lord’s “sheep” in Brazil.

The Society in Brazil did everything possible to bring the persecution against Jehovah’s people to the attention of the ruling authorities, and, particularly while the American Chancellors’ Conference was going  on in Rio in 1942, information was supplied to Dr. Oswaldo Aranha, the Secretary of Foreign Affairs of Brazil, to Sumner Welles, Secretary of State for the United States, and to John Caffery, American Ambassador in Brazil. These letters were delivered personally on the evening of January 14, 1942, by Brothers Yuille and Januário Diniz.

By 1942 a legal case involving Jehovah’s witnesses in the state of Amazonas was before the National Security Court. How did it start? In 1940 the Society had invited a group of pioneers to go to Amazonas to help the enthusiastic local Witnesses in the ingathering work. As soon as they reached Manaus, one of the pioneers, a former Naval Air Force pilot, contacted the Naval commander of the port to explain the work he had come to carry on there and to request his cooperation. This was a wise move. Keep in mind that in Manaus the clergy still exercised considerable influence. To the consternation of the clergy a small congregation was soon organized and began to work the area systematically.

Finally, one territory remained to be covered, the São Raimundo district across the river. The brothers crossed by boat, and one group began to work the main street and the remainder the side streets. After an hour and a half of service, one of the pioneers, Brother Kambach, was playing his phonograph in a restaurant when three young men entered, and one said, “That’s he!” pointing to the pioneer. With that he was taken to the local police station, where he found his wife and others of the group who had already been arrested. When Kambach entered, the door was closed and a brief hearing was held. The police commissioner was very nervous, fearful that he might not be able to control the mob.

A Franciscan friar was present at the hearing and when the phonograph record was played and announced the book Enemies, the friar opened Kambach’s bag and produced the book, opening it directly to the page where false religion is illustrated as riding a wild beast. Showing the illustration to the crowd, he said: “See! They say that our holy mother church is a prostitute!” After an hour, during which the brothers were subjected to threats and jeers, an order came from police headquarters to transfer the prisoners to there. As they left the station they could see that the jeering crowd had torn the literature into pieces and thrown it on the ground. At headquarters they were soon released, but a legal charge was preferred against them.

 Since the Watch Tower Society had been dissolved in Brazil in 1940, efforts had been made to clarify the matter before the authorities, but to no avail. In 1943 it was decided to form another society. However, instead of forming another civil society, legal counsel formed a commercial society with headquarters in São Paulo and with its charter registered in the São Paulo Commercial Association. This charter was approved in the General Assembly of the commercial society in May 1943. However, even though the intentions were good, the form in which this society was organized would bring it under commercial legislation involving business taxes, and so forth, which, of course, did not apply to the philanthropic and free educational work of Jehovah’s people. Thus the fight to obtain legal recognition was a long and arduous one.

A TURNING POINT IN THE HISTORY OF THE WORK

In 1945 the work of Jehovah’s Christian witnesses in Brazil was marked by new organizational improvements at the branch and in the congregations.

There is no doubt that the outstanding event of the year was Brother Knorr’s visit to Brazil in his capacity as president of the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society. An assembly was held on this occasion in São Paulo in the well-known and respected Pacaembu Gymnasium, located in an impressive valley covered with beautiful flowering trees.

A few days before Brother Knorr arrived, the brothers were informed that the Ministry of Justice had rejected a new application to register the Society and had also prohibited the circulation of our magazines. However, despite this unwelcome news, Brother Knorr, in his talks to the brothers at the branch and later to the local congregation, gave very encouraging words as to the future of their educational work. When Brother Knorr and Brother Franz arrived at the convention site on Saturday there were 250 persons present. At the evening session both brothers spoke to 292 persons about “Jehovah’s Universal Sovereignty Vindicated.” The brothers were thrilled to hear the Society’s president and vice-president, and they loudly applauded the news that the Society soon hoped to send Gilead graduates to assist them in the expansion of the Kingdom interests.

Another feature of this assembly was a meeting of forty-seven pioneers with Brother Knorr, at which meeting he set out the purposes and requirements of the special pioneer service, which was soon to begin  in Brazil. Eighteen of the forty-seven pioneers volunteered for this special service, and, of these, ten were later appointed to be the first special pioneers in this country.

Seeing the prospects for future growth, Brother Knorr took steps to improve the operation of the branch. By this time Charles D. Leathco, a missionary of the first class of Gilead, was waiting for his visa in order to proceed to Brazil. In the interim he was assigned for training in the Society’s printing plant in Brooklyn, New York, so that he would be able to take on responsibility in connection with printing in Brazil.

Later Brother Knorr also arranged for branch overseers and their wives from various parts of the world to receive six months’ training at the Society’s headquarters. This training would greatly assist Brother Yuille, then seventy-three years old and in poor health, in his duties as branch overseer. As a further step in improving the work, Brother Knorr chose Benedito Maximo da Silva, one of the members of the Bethel family in Rio de Janeiro, to attend Gilead School. Brother da Silva undertook a crash course in English so as to better his opportunities of benefiting from the Gilead course. After the daily routine of work at Bethel the brothers who understood English and Portuguese took turns teaching him the new language. In his own words, he thought he would never make it. But he kept on and was there to answer “Present” when the sixth class of Gilead began its term on August 27, 1945. When Brother da Silva returned to Brazil he was assigned as a servant to the brethren, as the circuit overseers were then known, in the northern part of Brazil where he could use his training to help the brothers to advance the Kingdom interests.

The year 1945 was also to be a year of resolute action on the part of the brothers to fight for freedom of worship. Though the government was putting pressure on the Society, having prohibited distribution of the magazines and dissolved the Society itself, Jehovah’s people were not going to give up. Thus, on October 13, 1945, they instituted a campaign to obtain signatures to a petition directed to the President of the Republic. It read as follows:

“To the Honorable President of the Republic of the United States of Brazil:

“The undersigned citizens of Brazil, all living in the territory of the republic, ask your kind permission respectfully to present the facts and request of Your Excellency the following:

“As Brazilians, having well in mind the lasting traditions  that are characteristic of Brazil, we firmly believe in the need to assure all persons freedom of belief, of worship and of religion, as guaranteed by the present Constitution. Furthermore, we are convinced that the operation of the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society is in harmony with the provisions made by the Constitution and with the people’s spirit of liberty, since it represents a valuable contribution to a better understanding and spreading of the Bible, thus contributing to the welfare of the Brazilian people, and for this reason should not be restrained by the Brazilian authorities in prejudice against freedom, but its publications should again be allowed to circulate freely. And so we believe that the study of the Bible should be encouraged and stimulated.

“In harmony with this, the present petition is made to Your Excellency, that you may deem fit, together with the Ministry of Justice, to order a ceasing of all obstacles to the educational work of the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society, which, with respect for the Brazilian laws, has always sought to create public interest in the simple way the Bible texts are written, and that you may deem fit to take the necessary steps to renew the activities of the Society in behalf of the good order of the Brazilian society and of justice. And, especially, that Your Excellency may deem fit to instruct His Excellency, the Minister of Justice, to proceed with the due registration of said Society, registration already requested, granting it the permission to distribute such publications.

“On these terms we await your favorable decision.”

Space below this petition was provided on each sheet for twenty signatures. Meantime all subscribers for the Society’s magazines were invited to write to the Minister of Justice requesting that the Society be given legal recognition and that permission be forthwith granted to the Society to continue printing A Sentinela and Consolação. Sacks upon sacks of these petitions were delivered to the Presidential Palace on April 1, 1946, by Brother Yuille and Brother Harry Black, one of the first two Gilead graduates assigned in this country. The petition carried the signature of 44,411 persons. By the time the petition activity was completed, General Eurico Gaspar Dutra had become President, and it was to him that the petition was presented in April 1946. There was no immediate response on the part of the Brazilian government.

About a year later, acting in accordance with legal advice, another society was formed in harmony with the laws then in effect. It was a Brazilian civil society,  registered under No. 1,216 on June 23, 1947, in Book A, Number 1, in the Third Registry Office of Legal Corporations in São Paulo. Its purposes were essentially religious, and it was to act on behalf of Jehovah’s witnesses. Now at last the work could be carried on with a legally registered society to back the Witnesses against any further unjust interferences by the clergy.

KINGDOM-PREACHING EXPANDS

In 1945 the Consolação began publishing a series of helpful articles taken from the new book Theocratic Aid to Kingdom Publishers, the English edition of which had been released in August. This series of articles provided the basis for another meeting for theocratic education for the brothers around the world. The Theocratic Ministry School had begun to operate in congregations throughout the United States in the spring of 1943, and in January 1946 it began in congregations in Brazil where there were brothers qualified to serve as instructors. Thereafter the publishers were able to improve the quality of their field ministry and so obtain better results.

A special campaign was planned for the month of May 1946. With this in view a shipment of the booklet One World, One Government in Portuguese had arrived in Brazil. Every effort was made to distribute this message in all parts of the country. Up to that time the peak number of booklets placed in any one month had been 48,000, in December 1940. Now, with the cooperation of all the brothers, 116,000 booklets were placed, this constituting a fine witness for the Kingdom.

The Watchtower Bible School of Gilead also contributed generously toward the speeding up and growth of the Kingdom work in Brazil. Two graduates of the first class arrived in Brazil by plane in November 1945, and were heartily welcomed by the publishers and members of the Bethel family. Both of those graduates were assigned to work at the branch. Brother Harry Black was to serve temporarily as branch overseer during Brother Yuille’s term of training at the Society’s headquarters, while Brother Leathco would be taking care of the printing.

For a number of years after that Brother Black served as a circuit overseer and became well known throughout his territory. Here in Brazil he had to face a new way of life. He slept sometimes in fine homes, sometimes in poor ones. He recalls once getting big  ulcers on his legs from flea bites, then on another occasion being awakened in the middle of the night when he felt something biting him all over the scalp. It turned out to be a swarm of big ants going through the house. The entire household had to vacate the premises until the ants left.

On one occasion when he visited an interested police sergeant in Florianópolis, Santa Catarina, he accepted the only sleeping quarters available, the city jail. While there, Brother Black noticed many German Bibles among the confiscated literature and obtained permission to return them to the brothers. It also happened while he was at this place that the sergeant had to travel to a nearby town, but insisted that Harry stay in his home anyway. Harry agreed but was surprised to be awakened at five o’clock the next morning by the sergeant, who had returned home. He told Harry: “We will have to hurry because everybody is waiting at the church.” “What church is that?” Harry asked. The sergeant told him it was his Presbyterian church, and that he had gathered all the members there to hear Harry give a talk. The talk was delivered as planned, using the Bible in the pulpit, and some were so impressed that when he left early on the next morning, they were on hand to ask him more Bible questions.

On another occasion Brother Black visited a leper colony with a brother who had been interned there for a couple of years when his arthritic condition was wrongly diagnosed. Though eventually released, he had made good use of his time. He had started a small congregation while there, and it progressed quite well after he left. However, for some time no reports were received from this little congregation, so it was decided to pay them a visit. A pass was obtained for Brother Black and the former internee to enter the colony. What did they find? Why, the only brother who knew how to write was so seriously afflicted in his fingers that it was impossible for him to prepare and send the reports. To the great delight of the brothers in this colony, the two visitors spent many hours with them.

In due time other Gilead graduates came to Brazil, both male and female, and it was a delight to see how they used their Gilead training to assist in firmly establishing the work in this country on a theocratic basis.

Assemblies too continued to contribute wonderfully to the expansion of the Kingdom interests here, and, of course, the Gilead graduates with their larger experience  in such matters were able to help to improve the organization of assemblies. It is amazing how successful the assemblies of those early days were, for example, the one in 1946, the “Glad Nations” Theocratic Assembly in São Paulo. Though some of the brothers had very little experience, their enthusiasm and zeal more than made up for such a lack. One brother, Oswaldo Monezi, was assigned to take care of the field service department, the purchasing, the construction work and also to direct the news service department. But he had never served in any of these departments before and had little idea about their operation! Another zealous brother, Arlindo Barreto, was in charge of the cafeteria. Though both of them were completely new to operations on such a large scale, the Lord’s blessing was manifest on their efforts, and the experience proved to be a very good teacher. At this assembly meetings were held in several languages, including Polish, Hungarian, Russian, German and English. Here, too, for the first time, the new magazine Despertai! was released, a magazine that would take the place of Consolação, and prove to be more attuned to the educational program carried on at this time by the Society world wide. That assembly, which started with 500 persons in attendance on the first day, ended with 1,700 persons enthusiastically applauding the talk presented by Brother Edmundo M. Moreira.

In 1949 two memorable assemblies were organized in connection with the visit of Brothers Knorr and Henschel. The first was held at the Clube Ginástico Paulista in São Paulo, and enjoyed a fine attendance of 843 persons on its first day. The public lecture, “It Is Later than You Think,” was listened to with rapt attention by an audience of 1,500.

At this assembly the excellent work being done by missionaries proved to be an encouragement to all in attendance. One outstanding experience was related in connection with a trip made by missionaries Orville Claus, Clifford Anderson and Albert Magno da Rocha. They traveled approximately one thousand miles by boat, train, bus, car and truck to attend the assembly. Along the way, from Salvador, Bahia, to Rio de Janeiro, they took advantage of the opportunities to spread the Kingdom message. They started out with 600 books and a thousand booklets, planning to visit some places along the way where the Kingdom message had never yet been published. When they arrived in a town, traveling ended for the day. One of them would  stay by the literature while the others went looking for a boarding house. After getting settled they would work the entire town, sometimes placing an entire carton of books. In some places their visit was so greatly appreciated that the local people would insist that they come back the following day to explain more about the Bible, or even to give a talk. Some of the persons they met were so hungry spiritually that they would not even allow the brothers time for sleep.

At the assembly in Rio de Janeiro, which was their destination, the Sunday afternoon lecture was attended by 1,064 people, a crowd that proved to be rather large for the air-conditioned auditorium of the Brazilian Press Association. Many had to stand in the lobby and listen as best they could. Brother Knorr’s talks, including “The More Excellent Way of Love,” were much enjoyed by all, also Brother Henschel’s talks and personal contact with the nineteen missionaries and others at the assembly were long remembered. Pioneer Edmundo Moreira delivered the public talk “It Is Later than You Think.”

CHANGE IN BRANCH ORGANIZATION

When Brother Yuille returned from his trip to the United States in 1946 his health was visibly failing. In fact, while he was in the United States attending the Cleveland assembly, some had tried to dissuade him from returning. On one occasion Sister Yuille asked him what he thought of such suggestions, and Brother Yuille merely answered: “My assignment is Brazil.” He was faithful until his death on March 21, 1948. Before finishing his earthly course, however, he was happy to be able to sign the monthly report of field service for December 1947, in which, for the first time, Brazil had passed the one-thousand mark in number of publishers of God’s kingdom.

Brother Charles Leathco was chosen by Brother Knorr to carry on as branch overseer at this time. He had begun pioneering in April 1938, later serving as a special pioneer in California and eventually receiving his invitation to attend the first class of Gilead School. On his arrival in Brazil in 1945 he had taken up service in Bethel.

It was a source of real joy to Brother Leathco and his associates to see the continued growth of the work in Brazil and especially to observe the progress to maturity on the part of many Brazilian Witnesses. Some idea of the growth of the work in the 1940’s may be seen from the following brief chart:

1946 1948 1950

Average Publishers 442 1,077 2,858

No. of Congregations 36 57 99

Individual Magazines Distributed 20,513 48,300 88,122

Bible Studies (av.) 309 833 1,924

 There is no doubt that much of this splendid growth may be attributed to the abundance of spiritual food, for example, “The Truth Shall Make You Free,” released in 1947, together with its study question booklet. Also, the public meeting campaign initiated in Brazil in April 1947 had a great deal to do with the gathering in of the “sheep.” Prior to that time only four to six public meetings were reported each month, mainly those being given by circuit overseers. However, with the new campaign the number jumped to fifty public meetings in April 1947, and to 5,154 in May 1971.

Another important factor in the progress of the Kingdom work was the close following of theocratic instructions. (Rom. 6:16, 17) It was in 1947 that the brothers in Brazil received for the first time the new booklet Organization Instructions in Portuguese. Then, in March 1949, the Counsel on Theocratic Organization was released, and by the end of that year the Portuguese translation was being applied in the congregations. Thus Jehovah was truly equipping his people to serve unitedly and wholeheartedly for the advancement of the Kingdom interests.

All this increase of activity in the field, in turn, brought a necessary increase in the Bethel family, with the result that living quarters at the Brazil Bethel began to be quite crowded. Cartons of literature were stored in rooms that otherwise could have been used as bedrooms; even the dining room had to be utilized for sleeping purposes. How timely, therefore, the provision for the building of a new two-story factory behind the old home in 1952! Printing too had to keep up with the needs of the vastly expanding organization of Jehovah’s people in Brazil. Thus, in 1951, the Society sent a Miehle vertical press from the Brooklyn factory. Other necessary printing machinery such as a linotype, a flatbed press from the German branch, and another Miehle vertical were added to the equipment, as well as a Victory-Front flatbed press, two stitching machines, a folder and a modern cutter. These all made it possible to step up the production of literature in Portuguese so urgently needed throughout the country. Here are some figures that show the use to which this equipment was put and the consequent need to enlarge the Bethel family:

Printing 1951 1953 1955

“A Sentinela” 180,800 234,000 536,482

“Despertai!” 91,400 90,400 271,814

Other Printing 2,922,595 3,329,695 3,586,630

Bethel Family Members 17 27 28

 Though changes came in the branch office personnel from time to time, the work of Jehovah’s people in Brazil continued to prosper. For a few years Brother Richard C. Mucha, graduate of the seventeenth class of Gilead, served as branch overseer when Brother Leathco decided to leave Bethel for marriage in 1954. Then when Brother Mucha too decided to marry and enter the regular pioneer service for a time, Brother John Kushnir replaced him as branch overseer.

Brother Kushnir was born in Saskatchewan, Canada. He commenced as a publisher of the good news in 1934, and got immersed in 1939. When only fifteen years of age he had to learn to manage the family farm because of his father’s death. He gained much experience when the Kingdom work in Canada was placed under ban by the government. He and his wife, Frieda, were invited to attend Gilead School, where they graduated in February 1956. Soon after arrival in Brazil they were invited to serve in Bethel, where Brother Kushnir proved to be of great assistance to Brother Mucha in organizing the work at the branch. Now Brother Kushnir had even greater responsibility as branch overseer.

SAFEGUARDING MORAL PURITY

A matter to which considerable attention had to be given during these years, due to the multitude of interested persons coming into the theocratic organization in Brazil, was that of proper Christian morals. Many coming into the organization were not living in harmony with the Christian requirements. (Matt. 19:4-9; Heb. 13:4) There was a considerable number whose marital status was not up to the standard called for by God’s Word, the Bible. Since there is no divorce law in Brazil, it was the worldly practice for married persons merely to separate from their legal mate and take up a consensual relationship with someone else. Hundreds of such persons came to a knowledge of the truth while living in such a condition.

In due time the Portuguese Watchtower, in its issues of December 1952 and January 1953, carried the article “Keeping the Organization Clean.” From then on, ample information was published in the Society’s magazines to aid people to get an insight into their true standing  before Jehovah God and to help them to clean up in order to remain in the theocratic organization and have Jehovah’s favor. Those who did not truly love Jehovah’s ways, of course, had to be disfellowshiped from the organization, but many thousands were helped to straighten up their lives and live in a clean manner in the sight of Jehovah. Such were blessed by attaining great freeness of speech in connection with the proclamation of the good news.

LEARNING TO READ GOD’S WORD

As a move toward equipping the Witnesses for further effective service in Brazil, the Society’s president, Brother Knorr, arranged for classes in reading and writing to be organized in the various congregations throughout Brazil. The Brazilian government was anxious to teach its many millions of citizens to read and write, and had provided some excellent textbooks. The Society obtained supplies of these direct from the Ministry of Education and shipped them to the congregations. At the same time, capable brothers and sisters were appointed as instructors in the congregations, and specific instructions were supplied so that even inexperienced teachers could follow the course without any difficulty.

After the students had learned the basic principles of reading, other textbooks were used, such as the book From Paradise Lost to Paradise Regained. In order to publicize what was being done by the government in this matter, the Ministry of Education invited the Society to send a representative to a special meeting of some 350 people in 1959. These people represented various institutions and religions who were to report what their groups were achieving in the field of education. The Society’s representative, Brother Sergio Antão, was allowed to speak for fifteen minutes. Using a Catholic Bible, he explained the educational work of Jehovah’s witnesses and pointed out that all true followers of Christ ought to be able to read the precious Word of God. Either taken by complete surprise by this extemporaneous discourse, or because of the presentation of the Biblical reasons as to why one should know how to read, the audience heartily applauded, and the professor presiding over the meeting came to shake hands with the Society’s representative.

Imagine how thrilled the brothers were when, at the “Men of Goodwill” district assemblies for 1970-1971 in Brazil, the Society’s own reading aid, Learn to Read and Write, was released! Following this release, more incentive was added to the work of spreading knowledge  of reading and writing. The ability to read the Word of God certainly has brought great happiness to multitudes.

In Canoas a sister eighty-two years of age had been inactive as to preaching the good news for fifteen years, but contact was made again and she began to study. When the reading aid was released, she immediately undertook a study of the booklet, and great was her joy to find that she could read the Scriptures for herself in her own Bible. Interestingly, the fifty-six-year-old sister who taught her had herself learned to read only two years ago in the reading school held in the Kingdom Hall.

Another publisher happily wrote his experience, saying: “It is with pleasure that I write you to thank you in the name of Jehovah for the wonderful provision of the Society to help persons like me to read and write. When I first began to learn the truth I could not go from house to house alone because I was not able to read. Now I am very happy because I am able to give my sermons alone at the doors and can conduct my own Bible studies.”

In 1958 an elderly sister immigrated from Germany to Brazil. Since she could speak only German she was unable to preach at places where this language was not understood. She saw the need to improve her ability and decided to learn Portuguese. She attended the reading and writing school regularly and persevered so that, within several months, and with tremendous effort on her part, she could give her sermons in Portuguese. Age is no barrier when one really wants to learn.

Another experience indicates how the reading school can and did help indirectly to improve family relations. A husband was creating serious difficulties because his wife attended meetings of Jehovah’s witnesses. However, one day he realized that his wife, now forty-five years old, had learned to read and write as a direct result of the school. From then on she was permitted to attend without any opposition.

To what extent has this reading and writing course helped the brothers and sisters? Well, by 1971 reports had been received of 6,218 persons having taken advantage of this valuable provision​—about 9 percent of the then-total number of Witnesses in Brazil. The peak year was 1959, when 735 persons were helped to become readers and writers.

Another factor contributing to the forward movement of the Lord’s work in Brazil has been the promptness in translating new publications from English into the  Portuguese language, and in making them available for distribution. Since 1965 particularly, almost all publications of the Society have been released in Portuguese some six months or so after their release in English.

Certainly these and the many other provisions of Jehovah through his theocratic organization have made for real prosperity among Jehovah’s people in Brazil. The following table will briefly reveal the results:

1955 1965 1972

(through May)

Av. Publishers 7,931 33,267 70,661

No. Congregations 163 745 1,239

Ind. Magazines Distributed 414,892 3,499,521 4,477,722

Bible Studies (av.) 4,146 24,699 62,975

Memorial Attendance 14,946 80,710 180,866

KINGDOM MINISTRY SCHOOL

The Society’s advanced educational program has, since March 1959, also called for the operation of the Kingdom Ministry School, designed to train overseers. Many interesting experiences have been reported as to the efforts made by the brothers to attend this school. It should be kept in mind that Brazilian labor legislation is constructed in such a way as to discourage absenteeism. Thus, it is difficult for some, especially Witnesses with large families, to risk losing their employment or fringe benefits in order to attend the school.

Were our brothers willing to show outstanding love for Jehovah in this regard? Consider the following experience related by Raimundo S. Carvalho of Jandaia do Sul, Paraná: “I work in a federal public service department and when I first received my invitation and requested permission to go, my immediate superior raised many objections. To discourage me, he said that I would lose many of my benefits such as special leave, seniority, vacation rights, and so forth. However, when he realized that I was determined, he suggested that I pretend sickness and get a medical certificate. I explained that such a course would be contrary to Bible principles and I could not conscientiously follow it. Eventually he gave his permission, and, of course, I was delighted to be able to attend the two weeks of schooling. When I returned to my job, I found that the days I was absent had been credited to me with no loss of benefits. In fact, I even received financial benefits during that time besides the uncountable spiritual benefits.”

In this large country it became necessary for the  school to travel to its students, rather than for all the students to travel to the school. This was arranged by having two school instructors spend some time at different large centers within easy reach of numerous congregations. Since August 1961 the school has held its sessions in ten different cities in this widely scattered country. In the cities where the school was conducted, local brothers lovingly cooperated by providing accommodations and help with the meals for the students. Many of the brothers enjoying the benefits of the school themselves made generous contributions to help cover the expense. By 1971, upward of 2,400 responsible brothers in congregations, as well as pioneers, had taken this valuable course.

INSTRUCTIVE CHRISTIAN ASSEMBLIES

During the years assemblies continued to play their part in preaching the good news of the Kingdom and upbuilding the Witnesses throughout Brazil. District assemblies grew in numbers and in quality. It became something to be fully expected that large assemblies conducted in the United States would later on be duplicated in many large centers in Brazil. The tremendous publicity given in Brazil to the New York “Divine Will” International Assembly of 1958 was used to draw attention to the eight assemblies planned for Brazil that same year. More than 400 column inches of publicity was received at the branch from 20 states and 70 different cities. Radio announcements were made by 39 stations in 27 cities in 11 states. In Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo special television programs and interviews were arranged, and two short newsreels programmed for two-year exhibition were also filmed. The results were outstanding. In São Paulo, 10,487 attended, while in Rio de Janeiro there were 6,105. The total baptized at all eight assemblies that year was 1,041. Jehovah was certainly giving the increase.

Perhaps one of the most outstanding assemblies was that international gathering of delegates in January 1967, in São Paulo. Six of the directors of the Society’s corporations were present on this occasion, namely, Brothers Knorr, Franz, Henschel, Suiter, Couch and Larson. The Brazilian brothers were delighted to have them as their guests and to hear them speak on the program. The assembly place was the large Pacaembu Stadium together with the gymnasium behind it. What a contrast with the 1945 assembly held in the gymnasium when there were just 765 persons present! Now, for the public talk delivered by Brother Knorr through an interpreter, there were 46,151 enthralled  listeners. His subject, “Mankind’s Millennium Under God’s Kingdom,” was interrupted by repeated bursts of applause. The vice-president of the Watch Tower Society, Brother Franz, took everyone by surprise when he came to the microphone and delivered his talk in Portuguese. The enthusiastic delivery of this prominent older man was greeted by round after round of applause. Here too Bible dramas were enacted for the first time in Brazil. How joyful the brothers were on this occasion to learn from Brother Knorr of the Society’s plans for the construction of a new branch office building in São Paulo! As Brother Knorr concluded his closing remarks and was leaving the platform the brothers and sisters took out their handkerchiefs and waved them. Many cried with joy and happiness for the blessings received at this spiritual feast. It was unforgettable.

In the years that followed, more assemblies and better assemblies were planned in order to care for the expanding flock of Jehovah’s “sheep” in Brazil. The following table gives some idea of the success of these assemblies measured by the vast number of persons who heard the program and the number of those who offered themselves in dedication to do Jehovah’s will:

Theme of Assembly Year No. of Locations Attendance Baptized

“Disciple Making” 1968 12 86,007 1,627

“Good News for All

Nations” 1969 11 95,780 2,370

“Peace on Earth” 1969-70 16 93,826 3,120

“Men of Good Will” 1970-71 18 120,950 3,036

“Divine Name” 1971-72 18 138,343 3,610

Although the increases in Kingdom publishers continued, the increases were not quite so spectacular as in previous years. Nevertheless, during the sixties the brothers have rejoiced to know that each year there was at least the hoped-for 10-percent increase over the previous year’s average of active Witnesses.

OVERSIGHT OF THE WORK

In October 1959, Grant D. Miller was transferred from the Uruguay branch to serve as branch overseer in Brazil. He had come to a knowledge of the truth while still in his teens and began to share in the preaching work in 1937. He was baptized in July 1940 at the Detroit assembly. He and his wife Eleanor graduated from the seventeenth class of Gilead and were assigned to Uruguay, where Brother Miller served as branch overseer until his departure for Brazil. In 1963 he again came to Brooklyn headquarters for a ten-month training course provided at the school of  Gilead, and, on completion of the course, was reassigned to the Uruguay branch. During Brother Miller’s absence at Gilead, John Kushnir acted as temporary branch overseer until December 1963, when Brother William A. Bivens, who also attended the ten-month course in Gilead School in 1963, arrived in Brazil, and was assigned as branch overseer. Brother Bivens was born in 1911 in Kentucky. He began pioneering with his wife Bertha in 1942, and they were invited to the fifth class of Gilead, which graduated in July 1945. Soon he and his wife were on their way to Guatemala to serve as missionaries. In 1954 they were assigned to Costa Rica, where he was appointed branch overseer. Thereafter he had the privilege of serving as zone overseer for the Caribbean and Central America zone, where he gained considerable experience in theocratic organization.

Soon after Brother Bivens commenced his service with the Brazil branch another very fine provision was made for the advancement of the work in Brazil. This was the construction of many neat, practical Kingdom Halls, which were built in many towns and cities throughout the country all the way from Manaus in the jungle region of the Amazon to Pôrto Alegre in the south. The new branch building in São Paulo also took form at this time, and during its construction it became necessary for Brother Bivens to make several trips to São Paulo personally to oversee much of the details of the work on the building. However, it became evident that Brother Bivens was seriously ill and was experiencing increasing difficulty in carrying out his duties. Finally, it was decided that he should return to the United States for treatment, which he did in February 1969. A few weeks later, he died after many years of faithful, full-time service. His presence was greatly missed by the Brazil Bethel family, now housed in their beautiful new quarters that he had helped to build in São Paulo.

When Brother Bivens returned to the United States, Brother Knorr arranged for the transfer of Fred Wilson and his wife from Chile to Brazil, where Brother Wilson could carry on as branch overseer. He brought with him experience gained from several years of varied Kingdom activity. In 1944, after his release from prison, where he had been because of the neutrality issue, he was invited to the Canada Bethel, where his wife had been assigned and where the work was being initiated again after the ban. In December 1945 the Society opened up a depot in western Canada and assigned Brother Wilson to take care of it. Two years  later he was assigned to the circuit work in the Fraser Valley, where he and his wife continued until they were invited to Gilead in 1949. After graduating they were among the twenty happy missionaries assigned to Chile. Some years later they were invited to work in the branch, and from 1959 on, Brother Wilson served as branch overseer in Chile. On a number of occasions he was privileged to serve his brothers in other South American countries as zone overseer. So on April 3, 1969, he and his wife arrived in São Paulo to undertake their new privileges of service.

GREATER FREEDOM TO WORSHIP JEHOVAH

The fight to obtain legal recognition for the Society in Brazil was a long and arduous one. It was not until April 1957 that the newly elected liberal-minded president of Brazil, Dr. Jucelino Kubitschek de Oliveira, approved the legal opinion of the Attorney General, Dr. A. Gonçalves de Oliveira, recommending the filing or dropping of proceedings against the Sociedade Tôrre de Vigia. His decision was published in the Diário Oficial on Monday, April 8, 1957. When Brothers Kushnir and Antão received the news of the decision from the Society’s lawyer, their joy could hardly be contained. The legal proceedings had cost the Society a large sum of money, but money could not compare with the privilege of working freely at their God-given preaching work.

Of course, there were other great problems for our brothers in Brazil. For example, during the years as the organization grew, many young men had to face up to the issue of ‘giving Caesar’s things to Caesar, but God’s things to God.’ (Matt. 22:21) Conscription had been in effect in the country since about 1906. Particularly after World War II, all young men in a certain age bracket were obligated to present themselves for induction and for military training, with no apparent provision for exemption for reasons of conscience. As more and more young Witnesses took up the Christian ministry in Brazil, the number of cases of refusal to take military training for conscientious reasons grew correspondingly. Finally, in 1950 certain critical cases came up for consideration.

Maximiano Wenyk and Paulino Maciel refused military training because of their conscience. This led to several weeks of trials. On the first day Brother Wenyk was punched in the face by an army captain, breaking his glasses. They were sentenced to some time in solitary confinement, kept in damp, fetid cells and treated to special war films in an effort to indoctrinate  them. However, the brothers stood firm, and after about four months they were dismissed from the army as individuals “without a moral capacity” for serving in the armed forces. However, the record showed that their refusal to bear arms was based on their Christian beliefs as Jehovah’s witnesses.

Another outstanding case at that time was that of Brother W. B. Machado, who approached the problem of induction from a different standpoint. He made an effort to contact higher army authorities, even the Army Minister, though without success. Some officers rebuked him sternly, threatening punishment, while others, more liberal, advised him to try legal means to gain exemption. Legal counsel was therefore provided for Brother Machado, and arguments in his favor were based on a provision for exemption from military service in the liberal 1946 Constitution. According to the Constitution’s provision, any individual with conscientious objection could be exempted from military service provided he would lose certain political rights, such as the right to vote and to hold political office.

After a long legal fight, in 1953 the government allowed that this constitutional provision cover Jehovah’s witnesses as well as other conscientious objectors. However, despite this precedent, there was still considerable prejudice against the stand of Jehovah’s witnesses, with the result that some young Witnesses were refused exemption and others suffered at the hands of ill-advised officials. Finally, in order to clarify the procedure and to eliminate irregularities, the government of Marshal Arthur da Costa e Silva published Decree No. 56 on June 8, 1967, setting forth detailed and complete instructions for the processing of all cases of exemption from military service on the basis of religious convictions.

Of course, each individual had to be able to verify the truthfulness of his alleged conscientious objections. The overseer of the congregation to which the applicant for exemption belonged would be interviewed personally by an investigator sent by the Army. On the basis of the information supplied from the congregation’s records, the investigator would then recommend whether the request for exemption be granted or refused. If granted, the applicant is cassado, with the consequent loss of certain political rights.

It is a recognized fact that among Jehovah’s witnesses in Brazil each individual makes his own decision in this matter of whether to apply for exemption as a conscientious objector or not. Hundreds of young men  have taken advantage of this legal provision and they appreciate very much the consideration shown by the government in this respect whereby they are enabled to carry out their Christian ministry without obstacles. Many of these young men are using their freedom wisely by serving as full-time preachers of the good news, teaching the high moral values set forth in God’s Word for the benefit of multitudes of other persons.

THE PUBLIC SCHOOL PROBLEM

Our younger brothers also have had to stand up to severe tests of their integrity in the schools. One of the first cases on record occurred in 1950 when a sister sixteen years of age refused to participate in a civic ceremony that would violate her Christian conscience. Efforts were made to explain the motive of her refusal to the teachers and the director, but to no avail. Religious enemies used their influence to have this case included in the legal process formed by the Ministry of Justice that led to the decree suspending the activity of the legal Society (Tôrre de Vigia) for six months, preliminary to the possible banning of the Society. When this legal process was finally dropped in 1957 after a number of interviews with the authorities, the situation in the schools returned to normal and continued so for a number of years.

In 1969 a decree was issued instituting the teaching in the schools of material on “Moral and Civic Education.” Soon thereafter isolated cases of expulsion from schools began when young brothers refused to sing the national anthem or to participate in flag-salute ceremonies as required in these classes. In Rio Claro, in the state of São Paulo, the case of twelve students was turned over to the police, who, after obtaining declarations from the parents and school director, sent the case higher up for consideration by DEOPS (a department of the Secretary of Public Security). Brothers Oswaldo Monezi and Augusto Machado, the then president and secretary respectively of the local Society, were called in to give information on the position of the Society on the matter. A written declaration was made showing the Scriptural basis for the position of Jehovah’s witnesses and showing also that it was a matter of each individual acting according to his Christian conscience. After due consideration, DEOPS issued a certificate of good conduct as far as the Society was concerned.

Meanwhile, thirty other children were being expelled from school in the city of São Paulo. In one instance, in Santo André, the father appealed to the Secretary  of Education of the state of São Paulo, setting forth in detail the conscientious stand of his child. The matter was turned over to the State Commission of Morals and Civism, composed of ten members, among whom were three members of each of the armed forces, lawyers, teachers and a nun. A favorable opinion was written by this commission, but the Secretary of Education chose to ignore it and sent the case to the National Commission of Morals and Civism. Efforts were made in both instances by the brothers to contact individually each member of the Commission so as to present our Scriptural stand and to answer any questions raised by the members of the Commissions. Since the Opinion of this Federal Commission would be presented to the Minister of Education, interviews were arranged with his legal advisers by directors of the Society, and one of the directors was also able to consider the matter personally with the Minister of Education.

The Opinion of the Commission as published in the Diário Oficial, the government organ, although not exempting the children of Jehovah’s witnesses from the civic ceremonies, did recognize the constitutional right of religious freedom and of freedom of conscience. The Opinion quoted directly from the Constitution, saying: “There is full freedom of conscience, and the believers have assured to them the exercise of religious worship which is not contrary to public order or good customs. Nobody shall be deprived of any of his rights because of religious belief or of philosophical or political persuasion, except if these are used to exempt oneself from the legal obligations which are incumbent upon all, in which case the law may stipulate the loss of rights inconsistent with the conscientious objection.”

The same Opinion gave due consideration to God’s person, saying: “While the Fatherlands are perishable, as even the Earth itself, even scientifically speaking, God is immortal and eternal, transcendent, by spirit, to everything temporal and transitory.”

The Opinion also quoted the Declaration Dignitatis Humanae of 1965, commenting that everyone should be immune from coercion so that in religious matters no one is to be forced to act against his conscience nor to be prevented from acting.

The writer of the Opinion admitted as extremely rigorous the punishment meted out by some school directors. The report continued, “Extreme caution is necessary in this case, so as not to violate the child’s conscience and not to isolate him, since he is juridically  incapable and cannot be held responsible for his acts.”

In conclusion the writer of the Opinion recommended, “The suspension and expelling, if they are contained in the Regulations as disciplinary penalties, should only be applied in serious cases of repetition and disrespect, as an exceptional and extreme measure.”

It was a calm, well-considered Opinion and, although it was not as much as the children’s parents had hoped for, it did indicate that the government was not desirous of harming the children or their future education. The Opinion has had a very sobering effect on most school authorities so that since its publication on October 6, 1971, very few cases of expulsion have been reported. Certainly the period of October 1970 to October 1971 contributed greatly to the witness given in the dozens of interviews of parents and other brothers with the authorities in the schools, as well as with the State and Federal authorities.

Beginning at least by January 1972, another type of investigation had gotten under way. Reports began to come into the Society’s office in São Paulo showing that congregation overseers in different parts of the country were being contacted and questioned. The reports indicated that the interviews all followed a certain pattern, with questions as to the basis for our neutral stand, why Jehovah’s witnesses do not sing the national anthem or salute the flag, and so forth. Indicative, too, of the authorities’ fears were the questions about the type of organization existing among the Witnesses and the possibilities of infiltration into our ranks by undesirable and subversive elements. One question was: Who are these 144,000 who are going to be ruling soon? The evidence is that our brothers were able to use these opportunities to give a fine witness concerning our preaching work and the reasons for our neutral position. Since the reports indicated that the investigations were being conducted by the SNI (National Information Service, whose duty is to keep the president of the republic informed on all branches of activity in the country), arrangements were made in July for Brothers Augusto Machado and Arlindo Barreto, president and director respectively of the local Society, to have an interview with higher authorities of the SNI, both in Rio de Janeiro and in Brasília. Both of these interviews proved to be informative and were conducted in a friendly atmosphere. Although it was denied that the investigations were instigated by the SNI, nevertheless it was possible to present calmly the position of Jehovah’s witnesses. At the request of the authorities, we are preparing for filing with them  for possible future reference a written declaration of this Scriptural position.

It is felt that the authorities on all levels are better acquainted with Jehovah’s witnesses and our work and our Scriptural stand. Indicative of the government’s attitude is the fact that during the months of June and July 1972, seven different lists have been published in the government Diário Oficial of young ministers being exempted from military service because of their Christian conscience, and this after several months passed during which no lists had been published.

EXPANDING BRANCH FACILITIES

Meantime, the vast expansion of the Kingdom-preaching work throughout the country was taxing the facilities of the Bethel office and factory in São Paulo even though it had been recently built. The move of the Bethel home and office from Rio de Janeiro to São Paulo in 1968 had certainly proved advantageous. Besides having a cooler climate, the state of São Paulo has the greatest concentration of Witnesses in Brazil, with a ratio of one publisher for every 566 persons.

The dedication program for the new São Paulo Bethel home took place on Friday, December 20, 1968, with Brother and Sister Knorr as special guests. There was an audience of 333 persons packing out the Kingdom Hall, including 145 congregation overseers, 10 district and circuit overseers with their wives, and the 42 members of the Bethel family. The program included a history of the work in Brazil, and the meeting was climaxed with Brother Knorr’s talk dedicating the building to Jehovah. It is recalled by members of the Bethel family how Brother Bivens’ joy and satisfaction knew no bounds at seeing this beautiful new branch home and office completed. It seemed to give him renewed energy so as to enable him to take on again some of his branch duties. Even though he had to be helped to get down to the Kingdom Hall for the dedication meeting, it was certainly a special occasion for him.

The new three-story, L-shaped Bethel building is by far the most impressive building in  its immediate area, being built along Greek-Roman lines with marble entrance and columns. On the roof, camouflaging the huge water tank, is the familiar Watchtower structure, which, when illuminated at night, becomes a silent witness to the growth and progress of the work of Jehovah’s Christian witnesses. But, think! In just two and a half years after its completion, this fine large building was already found to be too small to care for the unusual expansion of the witness work in Brazil. All the rooms were occupied by members of the Bethel family, even though the Kingdom Ministry School was moved from the branch building to other cities. Literature storage space was all filled up so that it was impossible to store literature for more than a few months at a time. So, how great was the joy on the part of the brothers when Brother Knorr announced that the present facilities were to be more than doubled by the addition of a new structure adjoining the present property! These plans were announced to the congregations in the April 1971 Kingdom Ministry. Two adjacent lots of land had been purchased, one being vacant and the other occupied by a factory with 432 square meters of floor space. On the vacant lot, two new separate structures would be built in the form of an “L,” each with five floors. The one structure would provide facilities for shipping of magazines and literature, as well as housing all the present printing presses. The other would have two floors with a total  of twenty-eight bedrooms and three floors for storage of paper and literature. In the already built factory on the other lot would be installed a new M.A.N. rotary press and other facilities for the printing of the Watchtower and Awake! magazines in Portuguese for the country. Expansion was really the key word!

Related to this building program was a surprise visit by Brothers Nathan Knorr and Max Larson. Brother Knorr, serving as zone overseer, was able to streamline the activity in the branch office and home and at the same time consider with Brother Larson and the brothers in the branch many of the details related to the actual construction and installation of the equipment necessary for printing the magazines in Brazil.

Construction on the building was already under way when Brothers Knorr and Larson arrived in January 1972, the final approval having been granted on October 4, 1971. The three-day visit was full of activity and passed all too quickly. Long to be remembered by the Bethel family and Gilead graduates serving in and near São Paulo was the happy time we had together with the traveling brothers on Thursday evening, January 13. To the delight of the family, slides were shown of the new buildings being constructed at different places by the Society. Brother Knorr talked for a time, too, about the expansion in Brooklyn, and this was enjoyed immensely by the brothers. Then in the middle of the talk Brother Larson stood up and announced that this was a very exceptional day for all of us, yes, today, January 13, 1972, Brother Knorr completed thirty years as the Society’s president! After several minutes of prolonged applause and choked-up emotion on the part of all present, Brother Knorr continued his talk, now including many reminiscences of previous trips to South America. The happy evening finally had to come to a close after a wonderful period of upbuilding association. The next day the visiting brothers continued their trip to Africa.

A WONDERFUL TIME IN WHICH TO BE LIVING

As we review the wonderful work that has already been done over the past years, Jehovah’s Christian witnesses in Brazil rejoice over it and thank Jehovah for having given them the marvelous opportunity to show their love for him. They take an optimistic view of the future, knowing that we are living now in the most wonderful of all times when the Kingdom is already established in the heavens and when the new order of Divine Rulership here on earth is near at hand.  To our delight the Memorial celebration in 1972 produced a total of 180,866 persons in attendance. This indicates that there are over 100,000 persons associating with the congregations who are not yet Kingdom publishers. But we are going to do everything we can to help them. During the 1972 service year 7,864 recently dedicated persons were baptized and a total of 72,972 publishers were in the field in April.

There is evidently much more work to be done, and this work is willingly shared by the 73 brothers now serving as circuit overseers, 5 others as district overseers, these regularly visiting more than 1,500 congregations for the purpose of aiding all Witnesses and others to improve and expand their share in the Kingdom ministry. It is wonderful to see how Jehovah’s spirit has moved so many Witnesses to offer themselves willingly to go to distant parts of the earth to serve as evangelizers.

Now you know how the growth of the work in Brazil was spurred on by the faithful efforts of those early evangelizers from Brazil and Europe and now by the missionaries who graduated from the Watchtower School of Gilead. They have reached into all quarters of the country. For example, deep in the immense Amazon jungle, in the state of Amazonas, there are 36 congregations with a total of 890 publishers, many of whom travel in their motorboats and rowboats to visit the peaceful inhabitants of that state. In the entire region known legally as Amazonia, which includes also the states of Pará, Acre and territories of Rondônia, Roraima and Amapá, 73 congregations with 1,895 publishers carry forward the divine commission to preach the good news, and in this area too there are 42 special pioneers busy opening up new territory.

In the state of Bahia, where we remember that George Shakhashiri was met by Amim J. J. Darzé, the work continues to grow so that now in its capital city, Salvador, there are 51 congregations, with 4,909 publishers and 57 pioneers. In the entire state there are now 170 congregations, with 9,444 publishers, 123 regular pioneers and 65 special pioneers.

In the great metropolitan areas such as São Paulo, where early difficulties threatened the work, there has been every indication of Jehovah’s prospering hand upon it. At this time in Greater São Paulo there are 237 congregations, with 20,033 publishers, including 217 pioneers. In fact, in the whole state of São Paulo, there are 489 congregations, with 30,953 publishers, or almost half the entire number in Brazil, busily engaged  in seeking persons who want to worship God with spirit and truth.

Thus we see that the message of the Kingdom has blanketed the whole country and now it remains as a challenge to the publishers throughout Brazil to reach into even the most remote areas and carry the good news of the Kingdom, seeking out those who are worthy. It can be seen that many were the ones whom Jehovah was pleased to use to carry on this great preaching work in this vast country, some of them from other lands, others native born, but all enthused by the same spirit of devotion and appreciation to Jehovah for all his marvelous kindnesses. All have recognized that, on their own, they could have accomplished little. But they attribute to Jehovah himself all the glory and honor for the grand expansion of the Kingdom work in Brazil. They realize it was “God who kept making it grow.”​—1 Cor. 3:6.

In view of the wonderful Kingdom fruitage produced over the past five decades, faithful Witnesses in Brazil look to the future with joy and expectation. They know that Jehovah will complete his grand work of searching for those who will worship him with spirit and truth. They are confident that, even with the vast influx of honest-hearted persons thus far into the theocratic organization, there are still more to follow, and so with real assurance they move forward with their preaching work, and as they do so they unitedly proclaim: “You are worthy, Jehovah, even our God, to receive the glory and the honor and the power, because you created all things, and because of your will they existed and were created.”​—Rev. 4:11.

 [Map on page 36]

(For fully formatted text, see publication)

BRAZIL

Amazon River

Manaus

João Pessoa

Recife

Maceió

Salvador

Belo Horizonte

Rio de Janeiro

São Paulo

Curitiba

Erechim

Santa Maria

Atlantic Ocean

URUGUAY

ARGENTINA

CHILE

PARAGUAY

BOLIVIA

PERU

COLOMBIA

VENEZUELA

GUYANA

SURINAM

FR. GUIANA

[Picture on page 84]

Present Bethel home

[Picture on page 85]

. . . and new addition in São Paulo, Brazil