Original sentence: A larger than usual number of Witnesses gave up jobs, college, scholarships, put off medical treatments, abstained from having children, and some sold their houses in the hopeful expectation that God's Kingdom would literally be established on earth in 1975 after the biblical Armageddon.Some ran up debt hoping not to have to pay it back, and some spent their life savings thinking they would not need them.There were many tens of thousands who left the organisation in the late 1970s due to this major disappointment, and the organisation's numbers dropped markedly after 1975 for a few years.While Witnesses have always been encouraged to increase the preaching work, and avoid secular life goals or careers, this emphasis was especially strong prior to 1975
Edited sentence: While Witnesses have always been encouraged to increase the preaching work, this emphasis was especially strong prior to 1975