A Successful Campaign With Kingdom News
“WHY Is Life So Full of Problems?—Is a Trouble-Free Paradise Possible?” This was the title of Kingdom News No. 34, a four-page tract that was distributed worldwide in 139 languages during April and May of last year. “One of the highlights of the year” is how Witnesses in Jamaica described this service campaign. “A great source of joy for the brothers,” Witnesses in Belgium called it. In the Czech Republic, this was the first time Jehovah’s Witnesses had the opportunity to share in a Kingdom News distribution. The branch reports: “The campaign brought a spirit of zeal and enthusiasm.” Similar sentiments were heard from many other lands.
Kingdom News No. 34 had a special message for those sighing and groaning because of the abominations committed in the name of religion. (Ezekiel 9:4) It had comfort for those whose lives are troubled because of “critical times hard to deal with” over which they have no control. (2 Timothy 3:1) Pointing to the Bible, the tract showed that life’s problems will be solved very soon. A trouble-free paradise is a certainty. (Luke 23:43) Many who read the Kingdom News were persuaded by its message. A man in Togo said to a Witness: “What you have stated is indisputable.”
Undeniably, the distribution of this Kingdom News attracted unusual attention. In Denmark a householder responded to a Witness offering the tract: “I have just returned from the United States. Just before I left, someone offered your tract to me. Now I have just arrived here, and immediately the same tract is being delivered in Danish!”
Enthusiastic Support for the Campaign
Jehovah’s Witnesses around the world enthusiastically joined in the work of distributing the tract. Austria, El Salvador, Haiti, Hungary, Italy, New Caledonia, were just some of the many countries reporting all-time peaks of publishers during the months when the Kingdom News was being distributed.
In Zambia a circuit overseer has trained his three-year-old daughter, Deborah, to offer literature from house to house. During the campaign with Kingdom News No. 34, Deborah placed more than 45 copies of the tract. Her mother started Bible studies with some who had accepted the Kingdom News from Deborah.
In South Africa a teenager offered the tract to a schoolmate named Cashia. Cashia read the tract and said: “This is just too wonderful—living forever on a paradise earth! Why have I not been told about it before?” A Bible study was started. Within a week Cashia received another tract. The second one came from her Roman Catholic pen pal, who lives in Cyprus. The pen pal explained to Cashia why the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church are false and told her that she intended to study the Bible with Jehovah’s Witnesses. Of course, that greatly strengthened Cashia’s determination to continue her study.
A ten-year-old boy in Switzerland shared with his mother in distributing the tract. He handed a copy to a young woman and encouraged her to read it carefully. The young woman asked the boy if he really believed what the picture on its cover illustrated—unending life on earth. The boy’s reply? “Oh, yes, I am very sure.” The woman then revealed that she was searching for the true faith because there were too many contradictions in her own religion. On a return visit, a Bible study was started.
Immediate Reactions
Sometimes the Kingdom News caused immediate reaction in those who read it. After reading the tract, an 11-year-old girl in Belgium confessed to one of Jehovah’s Witnesses that she had been shoplifting. The girl’s mother wanted to keep quiet about the matter, but the young girl’s conscience was moved by what she had read, and she insisted on going to see the manager of the shopping center. The mother finally agreed to let her daughter go back to the shopping center with the Witness. The manager was surprised at her confession. When he learned that it was the Kingdom News that moved her to act in this way, he took a copy for himself to see what it contained that was so powerful. The girl is now having a progressive Bible study.
A Witness in Cameroon left a copy of Kingdom News with a man and relates: “When we returned, we found that he had already underlined it and had a number of questions. After receiving satisfactory answers, he declared: ‘It is absolutely true that religion has contributed to mankind’s unhappiness. Your tract has helped me to understand much, but I would like to know more.’” He now has a regular Bible study.
A Witness visiting from house to house in Uruguay placed a tract with a man. The Witness continued his work of preaching from house to house and worked around the block until he got to the back door of the man’s home. He was surprised to find the man waiting for him, tract in hand. He had already read it and wanted more information. A study was started on the spot.
The Public Helps in Distribution
In Japan a young Witness approached a man in his 50’s and introduced the tract to him. The man asked: “What do you do with that pamphlet when you meet people who cannot see?” The Witness admitted that he did not know. The man told him to wait a moment and went back into his house. He returned with a copy of the Kingdom News and said: “I already received that pamphlet. I thought it contained very interesting and important information, so I transcribed it into Braille. Please use this for people who are blind.” The man had spent many hours transcribing the Kingdom News into Braille so that the blind would not miss out on what it contained.
In Slovakia a man liked the tract so much that he had 20 copies made, and he distributed these black and white copies himself. A publisher in Switzerland left a Kingdom News with a family and continued to work the upper floors of the building where the family lived. Upon coming down again, he was met by a young boy from the family, who asked for 19 more copies of the tract. At the boy’s school, the students had been assigned to write about problems and the search for solutions. He wanted a copy of Kingdom News for each of his classmates.
No One Was Missed
Those who shared in the campaign tried hard to ensure that no one was missed. In New Caledonia two Witnesses were traveling to the territory of a remote tribe in order to distribute the Kingdom News. On the way, they noticed a path that seemed to be unused, but they nevertheless decided to see if anyone lived at the end of it. Leaving the car, they trekked along the path, wading through streams until they finally found a house. A couple who had never heard of Jehovah’s Witnesses lived there, and they accepted a copy of the Kingdom News. Later the publishers made a return visit and to their surprise found that the couple had mended the road and several small bridges so that the Witnesses could drive their car all the way to the house. A regular Bible study was started.
In Poland a Witness had to walk past a construction site in order to offer a copy of the Kingdom News to a householder. The workers watched as he walked back past the building site. Finally, one of the workers called to him, asking him not to forget them. When he approached them, they paused and carefully listened to the presentation of the tract. They accepted copies of the Kingdom News as well as magazines and later, on a return visit, books.
Hundreds of millions of Kingdom News No. 34 were distributed in many languages. Its message has already had a powerful effect. Many have learned that a trouble-free paradise is possible. We pray that righthearted ones will continue to respond and finally get to be among “the meek ones” who will “possess the earth, and . . . find their exquisite delight in the abundance of peace.”—Psalm 37:11.
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Keep Distributing Magazines!
April and May 1995 saw a highly successful campaign to distribute Kingdom News No. 34. During those two months, there was also an outstanding distribution of the Watchtower and Awake! magazines. A brother in the Czech Republic, for example, reports that in April he placed 250 copies of Kingdom News and 750 magazines. In Guadeloupe, Saturday, April 15, was chosen as a special magazine day. Almost every publisher in the country shared in the ministry that day! Slovakia had a new peak in magazine distribution in April. Similar reports came from many other countries.
So why not make April and May 1996 outstanding months for magazine distribution? Congregations can organize special magazine days. Individuals can share in auxiliary pioneering. In these and other ways, magazine distribution can be encouraged, and the vital message proclaimed in Kingdom News No. 34 will continue to be spread. Then, as happened last year, Jehovah will surely bless the zealous spirit we show.—2 Timothy 4:22.