Puerto Rico Special Convention 2016
The first traces of Jehovah's Witnesses activities in the Netherlands date back to 1908 this year, the divine plan of the ages the first part of the studies in the Scriptures were translated, published and distributed in Dutch Brothers compile excerpts of the Company's publications , which were then distributed in small study groups.
When a witness from Germany moved to the Netherlands in 1914, Rotterdam has become the center of our activities Then, in 1921, Brother Rutherford has named Brother Adriaan Block as the first servant of the Amsterdam country was home a branch from 1922 to 1926 the first edition of the Dutch Watchtower appeared in 1926.
Other important steps were the brother Rutherford visits the Netherlands His Bible-based discussions were broadcast by radio The first broadcast was from Amsterdam Diamond Exchange in 1923.
In 1927 the branch moved to Haarlem later, in 1931, he moved to Heemstede Brother Rutherford revisited the Netherlands in 1933 and the media extended again an invitation for a radio broadcast This year, our business continued to develop and the first edition of the Dutch golden Age Awake now appeared in July.
The number of settlers has continued to grow a serious effort was made to reach as many as possible to share the good pioneer new groups often lived in the same house, sometimes called pioneers houses usually they traveled by bicycle, to reach people in remote areas, pioneers also use small boats to navigate the canals and rivers sound cars, portable phonograph, testimony cards and informational steps were used to spread the message of the Kingdom.
In the summer of 1939, a printing operation was established in Haarlem, however, this will prove to be temporary, because that year Nazi Germany invaded the Netherlands.
By the time Germany invaded the country, there were about 500 witnesses in the Netherlands The Nazis lost no time in trying to stop the activities of witnesses and a ban was issued July 6, 1940, the authorities German closed the office in Heemstede and confiscated printing equipment in Haarlem.
Soon after, some brothers and sisters were arrested brothers began using different covers for The Watchtower and Awake Consolation now to continue the distribution of the magazines, despite the ban.
Across the country, more and more witnesses were imprisoned and 310 were deported, 117 died in the control concentration camps that are not expelled was a victim of vicious persecution and a number of concentration camps were located in the Netherlands, and several brothers and sisters died there some were executed without trial.
A total of 131 Dutch witnesses were killed during the Nazi persecution Most witnesses were brought in Amersfoort camp Ravensbrück and Sachsenhausen Vught Others were deported to Auschwitz, Buchenwald, Dachau, Mauthausen, Natzweiler- Struthof, Neuengamme, and Westerbork Shortly after World War II, a convention was held in Amsterdam 5 August 1945 4,000 attended obviously, extraordinary growth took place despite severe opposition.
On December 4, 1945, a meeting was held with the Knorr brother Consequently, even winter relief goods were shipped to the Netherlands to be shared among siblings Soon after in May 1946 the ownership of brothers bought from which the preaching work in the Netherlands could be organized in the meantime, the number of witnesses continued to increase to 5716 in 1950.
During the war, the brothers and sisters have continued to meet in small groups, but after the war, meetings began to be more structured and the number of meetings has increased gradually, the congregations began to have public meetings Large conventions were held, and Jehovah's Witnesses became well known during a convention in the Hague, 450 were baptized in the North sea.
During World War II, the witnesses often held their meetings in private homes after the war, public facilities, classrooms and community centers were leased to require meetings to build their own now places of worship meetings are held in 204 kingdom halls.
July 10, 1963, was another milestone for the theocratic Netherlands, the governing body issued the NWT Christian Greek Scriptures in Dutch at an international convention at Yankee Stadium in New York, six years later, publishing Dutch New full translation of the world of the Holy Scriptures was released to international peace on the Earth convention in Nuremberg, Germany.
Other memorable events were the opening of two halls of the Assembly Before that time, the brothers held their great assemblies in theaters or gyms However, in 1974, the property was bought in the city of Bennekom Fortunately only a few adjustments were needed to the building on the property to serve as Assembly hall May 12, 1975, the first Assembly hall was dedicated to the Lord Three years later, an additional dining Heereveen built in, but it was lost in a fire in 1989, the brothers immediately made plans for a new hall in Swifterbant, which was dedicated to the Lord, 21 September 1991.
What about the increase in the Netherlands In 1950, there were more than 5,500 witnesses in the Netherlands Ten years later, the amount of witnesses has increased to over 12,500 in 1970, there were more than 18,000 witnesses, and in 1980 over 26,000 Now witness the number of the Netherlands more than 30,000 last year attracted 51743 Memorial.
Due to the increasing influx of immigrants in the Netherlands, great efforts were made to reach people in their mother tongue At present, there are 19 congregations in foreign languages and 70 foreign languages to groups Netherlands these efforts have had a primary goal to bring praise and glory to a great name of the Lord Psalm 96 2, 3.
2016 Special Conventions, conventions, died.