Refine Search

Magazines That Give Practical Comfort

“I WOULD like to thank you so much for the wonderful, practical articles you have given us to work with, particularly in the last couple of years. Upon receiving some of them, I have literally cried and thanked Jehovah because so many of our friends in the truth have desperately needed such information. I refer to issues such as those dealing with child abuse, being raised in alcoholic families, rape, and domestic violence.”​—Linda W. S., Indiana, U.S.A.

Those words were the introduction to one of many encouraging letters we have received in recent years regarding the contents of the Watchtower and Awake! magazines, published by the Watchtower Society and distributed by Jehovah’s Witnesses worldwide.

When we consider that the former has a circulation of over 16,000,000 copies of each issue and goes out in 120 languages and that the circulation of the latter is almost 13,000,000 in 75 languages, then we can appreciate the earth-​wide impact of these journals. Jehovah’s Witnesses offer them to the public in the course of their house-​to-​house ministry and in their informal witnessing, which refers to witnessing on informal occasions, such as when out shopping, buying gas at the gas station, traveling on buses, trains, and planes, or at any other appropriate moment in the course of daily life. However, some Witnesses have found other original and successful outlets for the magazines that you might also want to try.

Visiting Professional Organizations

A traveling minister wrote in about the productive activities of another Witness as follows: “She has been making it a point to collect older copies of certain Awake! magazines that other Witnesses have accumulated at home. Then she visits agencies that she feels might show special interest in some of the topics.” What kind of agencies has she visited?

“She has concentrated on social service agencies, pro-​life centers, Planned Parenthood, psychiatrists, psychologists, police departments, probation offices, drug and alcohol abuse centers, child abuse treatment and prevention centers, welfare departments (asking for caseworkers), county health departments, day-​care centers, schools, hospital stress centers, and in one case a city mayor.” What success has she had?

“Since she began concentrating on this unique field six months ago, she has placed 1,784 older issues on specific subjects!”

How does this Witness go about these visits to professional people? She says: “I think one reason these calls were so successful, aside from the fact that the magazines addressed issues these people deal with on a daily basis, is that we dressed and presented ourselves in a professional manner.” Certainly professional people will respect us if we have a confident, businesslike approach and are suitably dressed and groomed.

She continues her account: “We were offering an Awake! on abortion (May 22, 1993), so I decided to call at a pro-​life center. I started the conversation with a news item about a botched abortion and then led into the magazine, along with The Watchtower. We had such a nice discussion that I also offered the brochure Does God Really Care About Us?, which they eagerly accepted.” Her next visit was to a Planned Parenthood center where she had similar success.a

This kind of initiative can lead to an ever-​widening circle of positive contacts. From letters received we know that professional people are often impressed by the research and the excellent writing style that go into our magazines. So true is this that in some countries, such as Suriname, in South America, the Awake! is used as a principal educational magazine by students and teachers. The Witnesses there have a high level of magazine placements, and the interested ones eagerly await each issue.

One report received from Nigeria told of a radio station that was quoting verbatim from the Awake! issue on “Women​—Deserving of Respect.” (July 8, 1992) What does that suggest? That we can successfully offer the magazines to directors of radio and TV stations. It is just a matter of studying each issue and figuring out who are the local specialists in the subjects covered, whether they be lawyers, teachers, counselors, policemen, nurses, doctors, or members of any other profession.

A different approach has been used by a Witness who has opened up her presentation by asking, “Do you like to do quizzes? Most people do. Here is one in this issue of Awake! (January 8, 1994, or September 8, 1994) entitled ‘Have You Ever Wondered?’ Why don’t you write down your answers to the questions, and I’ll come back another day so that we can compare them with the Bible’s answers.” She has had many interesting conversations based on this method and has started several studies of the Bible.

Another practical suggestion is to show recent issues with subjects that might appeal to the particular professional to whom you are speaking. Linda, quoted previously, had the following experience with an administrator/​counselor in a school with an alternative-​learning program. “As I went over the magazines with her, she saw ‘Children Under Stress’ and said, ‘God has sent you today!’ That very day she was having a session on how kids can avoid stress. When she saw the experience on the back page of the magazine announcing the book Your Youth​—Getting the Best Out Of It, she asked for a copy. I happened to show her a quote from the book about suicide, whereupon she exclaimed, ‘Now I know that God sent you here!’ She had just been counseling a boy who didn’t want to live. Now she would have more to offer him.”

These experiences illustrate that with initiative and preparation along with a positive attitude, we can reach out to many more people with God’s Word of comfort. As the apostle Paul wrote: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of tender mercies and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those in any sort of tribulation through the comfort with which we ourselves are being comforted by God.”​—2 Corinthians 1:3, 4.

[Footnotes]

[Picture on page 23]

The magazines have practical information for social service agencies

[Picture on page 24]

The Watchtower and Awake! can be offered in many situations