It is immigration that explains the vast majority of the increase.

Who is it that immigrates? The poorest of the poor, the desperate ones that would be dead from starvation or execution by gangs/guerillas within 5 years anyway. These were not the ones being converted in their home countries - when you have to work 14-18 hours a day, 7 days a week just to feed your family, there is no time to "study", attend meetings, go out in field servce, etc.

So, they go to their new country. They can work a "mere" 8-12 hours a day and earn a year's salary (by their country of origin's standards) in a few weeks. For the first time ever in their lives, they have free time on the weekends, maybe even a few free weeknights.

Now here come Joe and Suzy Need-Greater offering them magazines in their own language - the first printed things in their own language they've seen since arriving. Joe and Suzy offer to take them to this Sunday's meeting, where they are "love-bombed" into an instant community of dozens of people exactly like themselves.

It's a highly appealing offer, and quite successful. It is why the WTS is emphasizing over and over for publishers to learn another language and change to a foreign-language congregation. Witnessing to recent immigrants is the one and only perfect setup for the Witness model of door-to-door preaching.

So long as there are economic imbalances in the world and lax enforcement of immigration policies, expect to see similar increases in the years to come.

Of course, there will soon be new, different problems. All these recent converts lack "spiritual maturity" so there will not be enough elders to govern the flock. Many are "illegal immigrants", and so can't serve as elders or MS. Watch for a spate of "Brothers, you should be reaching out" articles over the next 5 years.

But for now, the WTS will crow contentedly about "Jah's rich blessings" and the rest of their usual claptrap.

That sure can explain a good chunk of the problem.  And, unlike the fake time slips and the children getting pushed to baptism at age 6, this is going to be a potential long-term problem for us apostates.  And since much of it here is Spanish, and the Internet in this country is largely English, there is a language barrier for those who speak Spanish that become witlesses.

Now, if only we could translate this forum into Spanish...  but then it won't do much good if those people are so dirt poor that they cannot afford to pay $500 or so for a computer and $15 or so for Internet ($40 for broadband).  That is what keeps them uninformed about the Watchtower Society.  If only us apostates could warn them of the scam that is going to suck the money and time they have found and siphon it all into the Worldwide Pedophile Defense Fund--and translate that NBC Pedophile Report into Spanish, we might make a dent in those numbers.

One CO admitted that the increase was among the hispanic population in the US; that without it, there would be a decrease in publishers.  But remember the increase in Japan that was paraded out every KM?  Where is Japan now?

Blondie

They were conducting a "census". The territories of English-speaking and Spanish-speaking congregations oftern overlap. So as not to annoy people any more than is necessary, the Spanish JWs typically don't offer a presentation if they encounter someone who speaks only English, since they figure an English JW will be there soon enough. And of course most English-speaking JWs can't make a presentation in Spanish, so there is minimal double-witnessing.

The Spanish folks have territory cards like everyone else, but it will list only the homes where Spanish-speakers are known to live. How do they know where they live? They take a "census" as described above. Whenever they encounter someone not previously marked down as speaking Spanish, they update the territory card.

In very transient areas, they may do a census every few years.

Has there been a baby boom?  The witnesses are Fu#*ing each other all the time!