Gilead school
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Watchtower Bible School of Gilead is the name given to the missionary school of Jehovah's Witnesses. It is located at the Watchtower Educational Center in Patterson, New York. It has graduated more than 6000 missionaries from all across the world. Originally located in South Lansing, New York, Gilead School was first called the Watchtower Bible College of Gilead. As of September 2005, 119 classes have graduated from this school.
Anticipating a post-World-War-II period of peace, based on their understanding of Revelation 17:8, the Witnesses saw the opportunity to expand their global preaching efforts. So, in 1942, at the height of the war, the establishment of Watchtower Bible School of Gilead was proposed by N.H.Knorr, then president of the Watchtower Society. The first class began on February 1st, 1943. Five months later graduating students began to move out to their assignments in nine Latin-american lands, including Cuba.
This school is held twice a year and lasts about 5 months. Mostly married couples are invited. These are usually in their thirties and have been involved in missionary work in their home countries for some years before being invited to the school. After graduation they are assigned mainly to Africa, South-America, Pacific Ocean and Asia.
Gilead School's main textbook is the Holy Bible. Lectures and student presentations focus on a verse-by-verse study of each of the 66 books contained therein, alternating between the Hebrew and Greek Scriptures, commonly referred to as the Old and New Testaments. The curriculum is designed around the New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures published by the Watchtower Society, although other reference material, including other versions of the Bible are used. Additionally, students are prepared for missionary work in foreign lands and encouraged to develop traits that imitate those manifested by Jesus Christ in the Gospels. They learn how to cope with changes in culture and language as well as techniques for conducting meetings and Bible classes.
