2004 Worldwide Service Report
Jehovah's Witnesses are up this year. 1,019,000 live in the lower United States. The number who showed up at the Memorial was 2,303,015 in the 48 lower States . Attendance worldwide didn't increase by much. Bible studies went up too.
There are less people getteng baptized than in the past, but the retention rate is higher. This trend is especially true in Europe. It saw isfellowhiipped and inactive ones returning to the congregation.
They are being persecuted in some countries, but also growing.
In Rwanda, the brothers have been beaten up by police and children are continued to be expelled from school in some provinces. They are having a very difficult time findiing a place to marry because of the practice of having to put their hand on the national flag. They have been beaten and imprisoned where the marriage certificates are issued. Hundreds, now, have been imprisoned or detained, and while there some facing severe beatings for refusing to participate in night sercutiy patrols. A couple of circuit overseers were also arrested on charges of inciting school children to disrespect national symbols and to oppose government policy on security. One CO was treatened and forced to walk for 4 hours under armed guard to a military prison. Local authorities have closed Kingdom Halls and an armed major in the Rwandan Defense Forces dispersed a congregation at a Hall claiming that the Witnesses were guilty of divisionism-- trying to udermine the security of the state. Supposedly the authorites told them they were responding to reports they heard on state-run Radio Rwanda and articles making similar accusations in also state-run newspaper Imvaho. They have also been accused of influencing people in taking part in the masacre back in 1994.
In Azerbaijan, the congregations were deleted because of the constent harrasment they face there. Fanatical Muslims have been targeting them and police have beaten them up. Now they meet in dozens of groups in private homes. The brothers are being fined and are having to constantly defend themselves in court.
The growth continues in these 2 countries.
Most of the countries that reported negative growth were the countries where people migrate from. Thus the decrease in publishers.
Of note. JW's DO NOT have a death rate of 1%, but higher. And that's because publishersy are mostly 15 and over. One-percent would have been a closer rate if they were to count as publishers all those little ones from birth. If all children were to be counted then there would be much more than 8.2 million 'publishers' in the world. Because of the increasing number of publishers in developing countries, a higher death rate among Witnesses is to be expected in the future. in In Zambia, for example, most people dont get to live to be 40 years of age.