Our Kingdom Ministry

September 2000                   For United States of America km-E Us 9/00 Vol. 43, No. 9

‘A person’s success is often measured by the size of his paycheck. That is why many people view those with money as being the happiest and most fulfilled. However, people who feel that money can buy happiness are sadly mistaken. (Eccl. 5: 12) There is no lasting joy for those “determined to be rich” in a material way. (1 Tim. 6:9) In contrast, Jehovah’s servants are truly joyful and are the richest people in the world. (Pfov. 10:22; Rev. 2:9) How so?

² Evidence of Our Riches: We possess rich spiritual insight and an understanding of God’s Word, the Bible. Through his earthly organization, Jehovah continually teaches us about himself and his Son, to our lasting benefit. Accurate understanding makes it possible for us to draw close to Jehovah and enjoy an intimate relationship with him. (Jas. 4:8) Discerning good from bad and following God’s laws shields us from certain diseases and dangers. We have confidence that Jehovah will provide for us, resulting in godly contentment and peace of mind—Matt, 6:33.

• ³ We enjoy peace and unity within our spiritual brotherhood because we cultivate the fruitage of God’s spirit. United by a strong bond of love, we need never feel abandoned by God or by our brothers when we face calamity.—Gal. 6:10.

• ⁴ Our lives have real meaning and purpose. We count it a marvelous privilege to share in the global preaching of the good news. This brings lasting joy as we help others to come into a good relationship with God and serve unitedly with us in pure worship. Our priceless treasure of the ministry brings honor to Jehovah and gives us the satisfaction of contributing toward the sanctification of his name. We maintain a positive mental attitude, knowing that our hope for the future will soon be realized.

• ⁵ Showing Our Appreciation: May we be ever appreciative of Jehovah’s blessings, which make us truly the richest people on earth. (Prov. 22:4) Taking time each day to meditate on what we have moves us to thank Jehovah for his generous love and to continue giving him our exclusive devotion.

  Lives Are at Stake!

  > ¹ The Bible makes clear Jehovah’s will'“that all sorts of men should be saved.’’)However, it is also true that the life prospects of earth’s billions depend upon their attitude'towafd Jehovah God and his Kingdom by Jesus Christ.sA proper attitude can be based’only on “accurate knowledge of truth.” (1 Tim. 2:

  4)' WhileQfrvmg notice that soon the earth will be cleansed 'of all wickedness in order to make way for God’s new world of righteousness, we have also beer£oommissioned to carry on a vital lifesaving work.—Matt. 24:14; 28:19, 20; Rom. 10:13-15.

  • ² Why Sn Urgent? Jesus gave warning about ^‘great tribulation such as h^not'‘occurred

  
  

  (Matt. 24:21V/Jhat tribulation will reach itsclimax at Armageddon. (Rey. i6:16) The mass- _? es of peopUrracfiig annihilation -if they fail to respond to the good news include our unbelieving relatives, neighbors, workmates, schoolmates, and ac-o quaintances. Buketir concern is’ to reach out to “all sorts of men" * in imitation of God, who manifested his love for the entire world of mankind by giving his Son, Jesus Christ, as a ransom for all. (John 3:16) We must zealously endeavor to invite all to flee to God’s place 0t sAiCty. By fully carrying out the preaching work, we can avoid bloodguilt. —Ezek. 33:1-7; 1 Cor. 9:16.

  
  

  • ³ What Is Our Objective? The

  
  

  work is stressed throughout God’s Word- As expressed by the apostle Paul.Qthe love the Christ has compels us’jto live in harmony with God’s ways. (2 Cor. 5:14) Additionally, The Watchtower often emphasizes our obligation to preach. Our Kingdom Ministry continually provides direction on how to get the preacnmg work done... The elders organize the work. ‘ and encourage us to participate in it. Fellow publishers invite ' us to share with them in the ministry. We hear much about t preparing our presentations, offering magazines and other literature, making return visits, conducting Bible studies, and using every opportunity to give a witness. All of this helps us in accomplishing the objective

  
  

  since the world’s beginning.” importance of the preaching

  
  

  of saving lives.—1 Cor. 9:22, 23;

  
  
  
  
  

  Eph. 1:13.

  
  
  

Week Starting September 11

Song 139

10 min: Local announcements. Selected Announcements from Our Kingdom Ministry.

15 min: “Jehovah’s Blessing Makes Us Rich.” Limit introductory comments to less than a minute, and follow with a question-and-answer discussion.—See Insight, Volume 2, page 804, paragraphs 6-7.

20 min: “Use Current Events to Stir Interest.” Audience discussion and demonstrations. Mention several current events that have created interest locally. What concerns about the future have these generated? Using the Reasoning book, pages 1011, offer some suggestions on how to prepare an introduction that will lead into a Bible discussion. Have two practical, well-prepared demonstrations.

Song 224 and concluding prayer.

Week Starting September 18

Song 2

10 min: Local announcements. Accounts report.

15 min: How Did We Do Last Year? Talk by the service overseer. Review highlights from the congregation report for the 2000 service year. Give commendation for good things accomplished. Point out areas where improvement may be needed. Focus on how the congregation has done in meeting attendance, starting and conducting Bible studies, and being regular in field service. Outline practical goals for the coming year.

20 min: “Lives Are at Stake!” Audience discussion. Highlight the scriptures cited in the article.

Song 30 and concluding prayer.

Week Starting September 25

Song 93

15 min: Local announcements. Remind publishers to turn in field service reports for September. Review Question Box.

15 min: Local needs.

15 min: Our Magazines Do Not Lose Their Value. What do you do when older issues of The Watchtower and Awake! accumulate? Some publishers are inclined to discard them, thinking that the subjects are no longer current. Instead, the September 1993 Our Kingdom Ministry, page 3, urged us to carry some older issues and offer them when appropriate. You can pick out timely articles that might appeal to men, women, professional people, the elderly, and teenagers; then have the magazines ready to present when an opportunity arises. Demonstrate how articles might be selected and presented. Relate successful experiences that the publishers have had in placing older magazines.

Song 115 and concluding prayer.

Week Starting October 2

Song 169

15 min: Local announcements. Inform congregation about special distribution planned for Kingdom News No. 36, which will start on Monday, October 16, and continue through Friday, November 17. Urge all, including young and newer ones, to reach out to have a full share. Study conductors should begin now to encourage and organize all in their group to participate as zealously as possible. Include upbuilding experiences from the last Kingdom News distribution.

15 min: “Should I Move?” Talk by an elder. Explain why there is a need to exercise discernment in making a decision to move elsewhere. Discuss how to apply the counsel found at Proverbs 22:3. Include comments on cautions found in the August 15,1988, Watchtower, page 22.

15 min: Experiences in Starting Conversations. In the Service Meeting program for the week of September 11, it was recommended that we develop introductions about current events to stir interest and start conversations in the ministry. Invite the audience to relate the good results they have enjoyed thus far by applying these suggestions.

Song 205 and concluding prayer.

■ Literature offer for September: Life —How Did It Get Here? By Evolution or by Creation? October: The Watchtower and Awake! magazines. Where interest is found on return visits, subscriptions may be offered. Starting in the latter part of the month, Kingdom News No. 36 will be distributed. November: Distribution of Kingdom News No. 36 will continue. Congregations that complete their territory by reaching householders in each dwelling with a copy of Kingdom News No. 36 may offer the Require brochure or the Knowledge book. If people already have these, either the Live Forever book or the Creation book may be used. December: Knowledge That Leads to Everlasting Life with the New World Translation.

■ The telephone area code for the region in which the Society’s facilities are located in Patterson and Wallkill, New York, has been changed. The new area code is 845. The area code for Brooklyn, New York, remains 718.

■ U.S. Selective Service regulations require that all men register at the post office when reaching 18 years of age. All of those required to do so should take care of the matter promptly, viewing it as a Christian’s obligation to the superior authorities. Elders will want to have this in mind and give appropriate reminders to young brothers nearing the age of 18. Questions as to the young Christian’s responsibilities in this regard may be answered by the elders.

■ The elders are reminded to follow through on instructions given on pages 21-3 of the April 15, 1991, Watchtower, regarding any disfellowshipped

(Continuedonp. 3, col. 1)

June Service Report

Av. Av. Av. Av.

Number of:            Hrs. Mags. R.V. Bi.St.

Sp'IPioS. 126 123.5 102.2 54.9 4.6

Pios 88,867 62.2 43.1 20.1 1.6

Aux. Pios. 22,272 49.4 35.9 12.4 0.9

Pubs. 810,753   9.1   7.9 3.4 0.3

TOTAL 922,018           Baptized: 4,214

Announcements (Continued')

or disassociated ones who may be inclined toward becoming reinstated.

■ Those associated with a congregation should send all new and renewal subscriptions for The Watchtower and Awake!, including their personal subscriptions, through the congregation. ■ The Society does not fill individual publisher’s requests for literature. The presiding overseer should arrange for an announcement to be made each month before the congregation monthly request for literature is sent to the Society so that all interested in obtaining personal literature items may advise the brother handling literature. Please keep in mind which publications are specialrequest items.

■ Effective August 29, 2000, the Society is establishing two sign language circuits. These circuits will be served by traveling overseers who are conversant with American Sign Language.

■ Beginning with the September 1, 2000, issue, The Watchtower will be available in the Azerbaijani and Tum-buka languages as monthly editions.

■ New Publications Available:

“All Scripture’’—Authentic and Beneficial (Brochure for use in 2000 Theocratic Ministry School) —Samoan

ApplyYourselfto Reading and Writing

—New Guinea Pidgin

Bible —Amharic, Bengali, Bulgarian, Hebrew, Igbo, Malayalam, Samoan, Tamil, Tigrinya, Twi

Bible (Greek Scriptures only)

—Lithuanian

Is There a Creator Who Cares About You?                   —Thai

Jehovah—Who Is He? (Tract No. 23)

—Laotian, Turkish Jehovah’s Witnesses—Proclaimers of

God’s Kingdom         —Shona

Jesus Christ—Who Is He? (Tract No. 24)

—English

Life in a Peaceful New World (Tract No. 15)                —Tahitian

My Book of Bible Stories (Small size)

—Urdu

Pay Attention to Daniel’s Prophecy!

—Armenian, Finnish, Gun, Hindi, Serbian, Turkish

Should You Believe in the Trinity?

—Kannada

Spirits of the Dead—Can They Help You or HarmYou? DoThey Really Exist?

—Bambara

■ New Audiocassettes Available: Album of Greek Scriptures (19 cassettes)                 —Dutch

Families—Make Daily Bible Reading Your Way of Life! (Drama, single cassette) —Greek, Japanese, Swedish, Ukrainian

Deuteronomy (set of two cassettes)

—Dutch Joshua (set of two cassettes) —Dutch Judges and Ruth (set of two cassettes)

—Dutch Keep Your Eye Simple (Drama, single cassette)              —Korean

Marked for Survival (Drama, single cassette)              —Korean

The Watchtower in Korean will be available on audiocassette beginning with the September 1, 2000, issue.

■ New Videocassettes Available:

Sing Praises to Jehovah—On Videocassette, Volume 2 —American Sign Language

Warning Examples for Our Day—On Videocassette —American Sign Language

When Someone You Love Dies—On Videocassette —American Sign Language

Question box

■ Why is it beneficial for the audience to look up scriptures when invited to do so by a speaker during his discourse?

Factors such as the subject being discussed and whether the talk includes a verse-by-verse consideration of a portion of God’s Word will determine the number of scriptures the audience may be invited to look up.

It is important to keep in mind that one reason for looking up scriptures is to confirm that what is being said is from the Bible. (Acts 17:11) Another objective is to examine the Scriptural evidence in support of what is being discussed so that the faith of all is strengthened. Seeing what the Bible actually says while a key text is read will make a double impression on the mind. In addition to looking up scriptures, taking notes and keeping up with the flow of ideas being expressed is beneficial.

While the Society’s outline may cite a generous number of Scriptural texts in developing a subject, these are provided for the benefit of the speaker, to help him with his preparation. These may give background information and otherwise help him to get the underlying Scriptural principles well in mind and to understand the development of the subject. The speaker determines which texts are vital to the development of the talk and invites the audience to follow along with him as such texts are read and explained. Other texts that lend support to the material may be mentioned and paraphrased, but in such cases the audience does not necessarily have to look them up.

When the speaker reads selected scriptures, he does so directly from the Bible, not from a computer-generated printout. When the speaker invites the audience to read along, he clearly states the Bible book, the chapter, and the verse(s). By pausing to raise a question or to comment briefly on why the text is to be read, he allows time for the audience to find the scripture. Repeating the citation will also help the audience remember the reference. It is not recommended, however, to mention a page number, since these vary depending on the particular Bible edition that individuals in the audience are using. Looking up scriptures when invited to do so helps the audience benefit from the power of God’s Word as it is explained during the discourse. —Heb. 4:12.

Use Current Events to Stir Interest

• ¹ Would you like to have a continuous supply of good ideas that will keep your ministry fresh and stir people’s interest in the Bible’s message? Then use what is happening on the world scene and in your community to start conversations. You could draw on current local and national events or international news items. These things are everchanging. (1 Cor. 7:31) Consider the following examples.

• ² Economic problems and the cost of living are real concerns of people. Thus, you might say: ■ “Did you hear on the news that [mention item] prices are rising again?” Or you might comment about unemployment if a large firm has laid off many workers. Depending on how you want to proceed with the discussion, you can follow up by asking either “Have you ever wondered why it is so hard to make a living?” or “Do you think that it will always be hard to make ends meet?”

• ³ Reports of violence, such as tragedies in families or among school students, provide a basis for another discussion. You could ask:

■ “Did you read in the newspaper that [name tragedy in the community]?” Then ask either “What do you think is the cause for so much violence in the world?” or “Do you think a time will ever come when we can feel secure?”

• ⁴ News of devastating floods, earthquakes, or civil unrest in different parts of the world also offers material that stirs interest. For example, you might ask: ■ “Is God responsible for [name natural disaster]?” Or you could point to the latest outbreak of civil unrest and say: “If everybody wants peace, why is it so hard to achieve?”

• ⁵ Remain alert to current events that you can use in your introduction. Helpful suggestions are found under “Current Events,” on pages 10-11, in the Reasoning book. However, avoid taking sides on political or social issues. Instead, direct attention to the Scriptures and God’s Kingdom as the only permanent solution to mankind’s problems.

“Should I Move?”

• ¹ In response to Jesus’ command to “go . . . make disciples of people of all the nations,” many dedicated servants of Jehovah have moved to serve where the need is greater. (Matt. 28:19) They are imitating Paul, who responded to the call: “Step over into Macedonia and help us.” (Acts 16:9) How can this be done in a practical way?

• ² Proceed One Step at a Time: Is there seldom-worked territory within your congregation? If so, you might concentrate your efforts on those areas. Before deciding to go elsewhere, consult with your elders to see if they feel that you are equipped to make a move. You might also ask your circuit overseer if he knows of a nearby congregation where you could expand your ministry. On the other hand, after carefully counting the cost, you may wish to consider helping in another part of the country or in a different land. If this is your desire, you along with your body of elders should write to the branch office where you are interested in serving, outlining your theocratic background. It may be wise to visit the area before deciding whether or not to make a permanent move.

• ³ Be Cautious About Immigrating: An increasing number of our brothers are moving to other lands because they are seeking either a better standard of living or relief from oppression. In the process, some have fallen prey to unscrupulous individuals who promise to help them get settled in the new land but who only take their money and then abandon them. In some cases these individuals even try to force the immigrants into immoral servitude. When they refuse, they are left at the mercy of the country they have entered. Thus the situation of the immigrants has become worse than it was in their homeland. They may even need to ask the brothers to house and otherwise assist them, putting a burden on other Christian families who are contending with their own problems and difficulties. Members of some households have been physically separated from one another, and families have been spiritually weakened by such ill-advised moves.—1 Tim. 6:8-11.

• ⁴ If you want to make a move for personal advantage, keep in mind that no matter where you live, there are problems to be faced. It is easier to overcome problems where you already know the language and the culture, rather than starting anew in unfamiliar surroundings.

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