Informant, September 1948

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“I will sing praises unto thee among the nations.”—Ps. 57: 9, A, S. V.

SEPTEMBER, 1948

BROOKLYN, N. Y.

Endurance for Our and Others’ Salvation Three-Book Offer Points Way to Life for Many

Three More District Assemblies

Ministers to Launch Service Year with Build-up in Hours

Who among God’s people has not framed In his mind a vision of the glorious New World, when war, hate, fear, disease and death will be no more; when peace, freedom and life will stretch on into eternity? Not in the far future, but in our day will life in that New World begin. Mere envisioning of it, however, is not enough. Wanting it with all our heart is no guarantee of salvation. Endurance is needed, endurance to the very end of this world in the godly work of gospelpreaching. As Jesus said: “He that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.”—Matt. 24:13.

Demonic hatred of true worshipers reaches its zenith in these last days. Derision, jails, mobbings, even death, may await the Christian witness. But what shall we do? Cow in fear and quit the ministry? “Stick to your work,” admonished Paul. Endure the hate, the mockery, the slammed doors, the railing and violence, the heat and cold. Endure it by steady, regular preaching from house to house and on the streets, by back-calls and Bible studies and public meetings. We must endure, for salvation depends on it, for ourselves and others. (1 Tim. 4:16) And with Jehovah’s help we can and will endure, as did Jesus and the apostles and a “great cloud of witnesses” before them, even unto life in tlie New World.

Pointing the Way to Salvation with September’s Offer

Three bound books during September! Is not that too much reading matter to leave at one time? By no means, for this is a reading world. Books of every description encircle the globe. Millions read, many in quest for knowledge that will satisfy, and bring freedom and peace. But in vain, for this world’s books know not the cause or cure for human ills. But “Let God Be True” does. “The Kingdom Is at Hand" will explain. “The Truth Shall Make You Free" can truly free an enslaved mind. What a beneficent public service, to offer three books, on contribution of $1.00, that with surety point the way to salvation! And with these, the enlightening booklet Permanent Governor of All 'Nations free.

From a surface appearance, our books are not unlike others. Covers, pages, printed words, table of contents and index are common to all, and at first glance the householder sees only this similarity. The need exists for an effective oral presentation, something said that will lift the literature out of the class of common books and rouse desire to secure and read Bible truth. It is suggested that each minister work up a good general presentation. The new catalogue offers worth-while talking points. Highlights abound throughout the books’ pages. The theme in each publication is different, as is the manner of treatment. Speak with earnestness ; show-genuine interest in all you meet, regardless of religion, race or walk of life, and seek to apply the wise counsel of Colossians 4:6: "Always put your message attractively, and yet pointedly, and be prepared to give every inquirer a fitting answer.” (An Amer. Trans.)

Into the field, then, in city and rural areas, equipped ministers move in September. Up to a door, a cheerful ‘good day’, and from their lips come words of comfort to those who mourn. A return call, a book study, and another “sheep” is on the way to life. Streets, too, offer opportunities for godly service, as ministers across the land come into public view with their warm invitations, “Read The Watchtower and Awake!" or “Come to our free public Bible talk”. Preach the good news! That is the way to endure, and the work that points others to salvation.

Start New Service Year with Build-up in Hours

Endurance does mean salvation for others, as proved by new publisher peaks during past months of 1948. In June 76,862 endured the world’s hate, praising God publicly, to compare with 71,559 in June 1947. Reasonably, the total hours should have mounted. Yet, despite an increase of more than 5,000 publishers, total hours dropped. Why? You, the publisher, know the reason in your case. But a new service year opens up, and the important question now is: Will each minister purpose to show forth endurance by a steady build-up in hours in the field? Will you plan now to seek the ministry first each week, set aside so much time for godly preaching, and refuse to allow other matters to encroach on that time? Ministers of God, individually and as companies, might profitably analyze hour records over past months and ascertain what steps can be taken to build up time spent in the most important work in the world, the ministry of salvation.

Time is not ours to waste if we want salvation and desire that others gain it. It is consecrated to the service of the Most High, and upon its wise use may depend our life. Seconds tick out. Minutes run into hours, hours into days, weeks, months and years. Time goes fast, very fast now, as the final end looms near. What of September? Will your hours be hours of endurance in the godly work of preaching? Unitedly let us launch off into the new service year with determination to make the very most of service opportunities, enduring for our and others’ salvation.

A Must for God’s Ministers

“Oh taste and see that Jehovah is good 1” Those words, first spoken by tlie psalmist many centuries ago, certainly are the heartfelt admonition that those who attended the recent district assemblies would give to those living in districts having assemblies during this month of September. “The most helpful, the most valuable, the most practical assembly we ever attended 1” is the way ever so many expressed it. Yes, they appreciated the many helpful and practical suggestions given as to how we might improve our meetings and our ministry, the wholesome admonition that we might walk circumspectly and dwell together in peace and unity, the public discourse featuring the “Kingdom Hope for All Mankind”, together with other stirring discourses by the president of the Society, some of which are already being enjoyed by all the brethren in the columns of The Watchtower. Coming assemblies will have still more blessings.

Now before us are three more district assemblies: for District 5 at Des Moines, Iowa, September 3-5; for District 3 at Chicago, HI., September 10-12; and for District 1, at Providence, R. I., September 17-19. (Tlie assembly the brethren are to attend will depend upon their old district number, not their new one, in the event there was a change.) These assemblies are conveniently located, and therefore not

Supplies

With this Informant find report cards for each branch of the service, one for each month of the coming year, and the yearly report letter. Pioneers will have in addition their daily record sheets, and special pioneers their allowance request forms and a supply of report cards for the president’s office, for those who use them. Starting September 1948. special pioneers will receive their allowances monthly. They will therefore make out an allowance request slip each month.

The report letter outlines the most effective method of reporting and co-operating with tlie Society. From reports coming in it is very apparent that some company servants seem not to have given proper attention to this letter in the past. It is therefore requested that the servants in each company study this letter carefully at a combined meeting, and a capable brother be assigned to take up at a service meeting such portions of the letter as apply to the publishers. Have him instruct and demonstrate to the entire company how they can all co-operate in making the company’s report more accurate and dependable. Pioneers, special pioneers and servants to the brethren should likewise study this letter carefully and conform to its direction.

much travel will be required by the brethren living in the district. They should be a must for all the brethren residing in the districts in which they are held.

Make preparations to be there for tlie opening session and remain for the closing one. Go fully determined to take advantage of all the spiritual opportunities provided, for service, for instruction and for fellowship. There is every reason why the assemblies should see the greatest witness given in their respective cities to date. Do your part to help make such a fact. And do not overlook opportunities to witness en route to the assembly. Take literature with you for this purpose, be “instant in season and out of season”.

To get the full benefit of the instruction given, ministers are encouraged not only to attend all the sessions and listen attentively but to take notes. Taking notes will help us to concentrate on what the speaker is saying, will help to impress more firmly on our minds what we hear, and will give us something of value to refer to hnd apply in our daily ministry. It will equip us to pass along the maximum blessings of the assembly to our good-will interest back home or to those of our brethren who, for one reason or another, were not able to attend.

We are living in perilous times when iniquity abounds. We cannot stand still; we either must advance to maturity or shall relapse into sin. If we do not want to lose the opportunity of having a share in the vindication of Jehovah’s name and receiving the eternal life that goes with it, we must take advantage of every opportunity to grow to maturity. The district assemblies are provided for that very purpose. Therefore, let every servant of Jehovah living in the districts involved resolve, by the Lord’s grace, to “taste and see that Jehovah is good” by attending his particular district assembly.

Draft Registration

AU male persons between the ages of 18 and 25, inclusive, should register for the draft, as follows:

Persons born in 1922 after August 30, 1922, will register on August 30. Those born in 1923 should register August 31 and September 1; born in 1924, on September 2 and 3; born in 1925, on September 4 and 7; born in 1926, on September 8 and 9; born in 1927, on September 10 and 11; born in 1928, on September 13 and 14; born in 1929, on September 15 and 16; born in 1930 before September 19, on September 17 and 18. Boys born after September 19, 1930, should register on the day they are 18 years old or within five days thereafter.

“King for All Earth” Testimony Period Awake! Campaign for October

Rural Activity to Be Stressed

Perhaps not all of us are gifted with the ability to write the message of the Kingdom forcefully and clearly, but we are all equipped with a tongue with which we can inscribe this message on the hearts of men of good-will, making them our living epistles, and we can bring it to them in printed form. Hence, like the psalmist, we reverently and joyfully sing out, “My heart is inditing a good matter: I speak of the things which I have made touching the king: my tongue is the pen of a ready writer. Instead of thy fathers shall be thy children, whom thou mayest make princes in all the earth." (Ps. 45:1,16) Yes, it is concerning the King of all the earth, Christ Jesus, that we speak at all times and especially during the testimony period for October, “King for All Earth.” To us it is a “good matter”.

The month of October is to be devoted primarily to presenting a year’s subscription for the Awake! magazine for $1.00. How appropriate this is, for Atvake! consistently uses its “tongue” in extolling the King. We can conscientiously recommend this magazine to all men of good-will who long for the righteous rule of the King and his princes in all the earth. Truthful! Factual 1 Hope-inspiring! Every lover of righteousness should be reading Awake! regularly. But how many can we reach during the one month of October? Surely each company publisher can, with diligence, place at least one Awake! subscription, making it reasonable for the company to establish a quota equal to its quota of publishers for the year. Why, from our back-calls and book studies alone, a substantial number may be obtained. Be sure to offer Awake! on subscription to all who already show interest in the truth. Pioneers should strive to obtain one subscription per week, or four for the month. Surely this reasonable quota can be reached, by companies and pioneers.

Rurals Suggest Combined Offer

For all those who desire to do so, the offer of three bound books can be continued during October, placing with a year’s subscription for Awake! the three books and the booklet for a contribution of $2,00. It would be well for pioneers to use this offer throughout the entire month, and especially is it adaptable to work in rural areas.

Many companies with substantial rural territory to cover found it impossible to reach everyone with the Watchtower Campaign offer at the first of the year. October will be an excellent month to put forth special effort to reach them, that they may have opportunity to obtain Awake! The combined offer will especially appeal to those who are somewhat isolated for certain periods of the year.

Days spent in the rurals should be full in order to accomplish as much as possible in the time available. What better way to finish off a busy day than having an open-air public meeting in some park or in the yard of a person of good-will or other suitable location in the rural territory? Make the most of your opportunities to laud the King.

In working small towns and rural communities, do not neglect to work the business sections too. Awake! is a magazine that appeals to busy business people. Now that business territory is not usually held back to be worked separate from the regular company assignment, attention should be given to see that it is properly cared for by the company. Business establishments should be approached in a businesslike manner, and the message presented briefly and courteously. Of course, publishers should be neatly attired in this work as at all other times.

Advance Preparation Essential

The one-month presentation of Awake! in October, 1946, was an outstanding success, and there is every reason to believe that it will be so again If we but catch the spirit of it, prepare in advance, and start promptly on October 1. Preparation is essential in any campaign, and especially so when it will last but one month. No time for lagging here! All praisers of the King, go into action at once 1 Company servants and advertising servants should ascertain immediately how many extra copies of Awake! the different publishers desire for introductory copies, so that extra distributors’ copies may be ordered sufficiently in advance. Then what else can be done? Are there sufficient Awake! subscription slips on hand? (These should be carried in street work as well as door-to-door activity.) Are back-call names properly lined up so that each back-call and book study will have opportunity to subscribe for the Awake! magazine? Is territory and group witnessing activity outlined for the opening day? Are demonstrations being prepared to show publishers how to present the offer and make out subscription slips properly and completely? Most important of all, is every company publisher and pioneer convinced that Awake! should be in every home? If so, our hearts are ready to speak good things concerning the King and our tongues are equipped as the pen of a ready writer. Forward together, rendering praise to the “King for All Earth”!

Outdoor Public Meetings

By use of outdoor assembly places the brethren have been greatly blessed. When available the best outdoor meeting place is a public park. Because of the many people who frequent such places on Sunday it is easy to get large audiences of strangers. Each company that has accessible in its community a public park should arrange for the holding of a series of public meetings during the months of the year when it is warm and weather conditions permit outdoor meetings.

A letter for a permit to use the park should be directed to the authorities of the city operating the park. A letter of instructions as to procedure to follow in obtaining use of the park for public meetings will be mailed to the brethren upon written request to the Society’s legal desk.

Gifts and Wills

It is natural for all persons to have a desire to dispose of their earthly possessions according to their own wishes. Persons who have not made proper provision before death leave their property and possessions either to relatives or, if they have no relatives, to the state in event they die without heirs. From time to time brethren who own property and who have much or little of this world’s goods have inquired of the Society as to how they can see to it that their desires and wishes are fully carried out after they die. The Society through its legal counsel has always given proper advice to such inquirers.

The numerous questions by many brethren have now been covered in a Memorandum on Gifts and Wills prepared by the general counsel for the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society. It is available to those persons who desire to see to it that their personal possessions are properly handled, either before or after their death.

Brethren when they are young and strong and busy in the Lord’s work often say, “I will take care of the matter of the proper distribution of my possessions at a later time.” Then some unforeseen accident or physical ailment suddenly strikes them, and the desired disposition of their personal property is not carried out according to their wishes. While the individual may have expressed to someone else what he desires to do with his personal possessions, these wishes may not be carried out because the proper legal formalities have not been followed before death. The Society’s legal counsel has now prepared a Memorandum on Gifts and Wills that we believe will be of great aid to any individual who wants to see to it that his wishes are properly carried out and that someone else will not dictate what shall be done with his possessions after he dies.

This notice is not a solicitation of funds on the part of the Society, but it is a notice to the brethren that the Society will be glad to have its legal counsel advise you as to how to make proper provision so that your wishes will be carried out as you desire. If you write the Society asking for information as to how to properly handle gifts and wills, we will have counsel mail the Memorandum to you. It would be well for each person making inquiry to state fully his problem, as additional advice can be given if necessary. We feel sure this information will help many brethren to put their affairs in proper order so that they will make sure matters will be carried out according to their desire of honoring Jehovah and doing ail things as unto the Lord.

Catalogue

Most of the companies are responding well to the new catalogue and are including orders for it along with other literature. Undoubtedly the publishers are following through with equal enthusiasm in making use of this provision for the further spread of the Kingdom message. It should be mentioned, however, that, due to the nature of the material in the catalogue, it should not be counted as a booklet on field service reports when placed. Remittance should accompany all orders for the catalogue, as it is a cash item.

Field Service Chart, 1949-50

The Society is now mailing to all companies the new company chart. With it will be found instructions for posting the company’s activity for the coming year, beginning September 1. These instructions should be carefully studied by the assistant company servant and he should proceed at once to put the necessary information on the chart, such as the monthly averages for the past year and the 10-percent Increase quotas for the coming year.

Here Is recorded the result of the labor in the field, a mirror that reflects the company’s expansion for the benefit of the whole congregation. But in addition to showing expansion, it shows wherein the company may Improve. It helps the company keep a balanced service outline in order that all features of the service may expand.

Each month parts of the service meeting should be devoted to an analysis of this chart. This analysis can be incorporated with the monthly report of activity compiled from the assistant company servant’s records and comparison can be made to see if the quotas for each feature of the service are being met. Weaknesses can be pointed out and encouragement given for an increase in such activity.

Putting to good use all the provisions of Jehovah we will be diligent in preaching this gospel of the Kingdom and will watch the increase of His praise among ail nations.

Providence Assembly

The correct address for the rooming committee at Providence is Watchtoweb Convention, 22 Plain-field Street, Providence 9, Rhode Island.

Field Service Report

The September Informant is being printed before the vacation period so that the brethren will have it to use during the month of September. Therefore there is no field service report published for the month of July. The July and August field service reports will appear in the October Informant.

Foreign-Language Editions of The Watchtower Available

The Watchtower is being mimeographed semimonthly in the Tagalog, Ilocano and Hiligaynon-Visayan dialects. Subscriptions can be accepted for these languages at $1.25 for a year.

Publications Now in Stock

“The Truth Shall Make You

Free" Study Questions .... German “Let God Be True"............Armenian

“Let God Be True"_________Ukrainian

Organization Instructions

The supply of Organization Instructions at present is low. Hence it is requested that companies order this publication sparingly, and only if urgently needed at this time. Some orders may be cut down. Perhaps new publishers needing copies can study those already in the hands of other brethren, until a sufficient supply exists to meet all needs. When more are available, announcement will be made.