• Papua New Guinea
    2011 Yearbook of Jehovah’s Witnesses

    • When addressing a congregation or isolated group, John first wrote his name and the name of his interpreter on a blackboard. Then, pointing to heaven, he asked the audience, “God, what name?” He wrote their answer, “Jehovah” as well as “Psalm 83:18” at the top of the board. Underneath, to the left, he then wrote the heading “Old World” and drew stick figures of two men fighting, a person crying, a grave, and “Romans 5:12.” On the right, he wrote the heading “New World” and drew two men shaking hands, a smiling face, a grave crossed out, and “Revelation 21:4.” Afterward, he gave an animated talk explaining the drawings. He then invited individuals in the audience to come forward and repeat his presentation. When they had mastered it, he invited them to copy the pictures onto a sheet of paper and use it in their preaching work.

      “Picture Sermon One,” as it was called, had a profound impact on the preaching work in Papua New Guinea. Other picture sermons soon followed. “We spent countless hours copying these picture sermons into school exercise books. Each Bible student received a copy, which he used to preach to others,” says Lena Davison, who served in the country for 47 years. Children produced their own picture books and colored them in with great pride.

      This teaching method was also adapted for congregation meetings. “Blackboard drawings were used extensively during the Public Meeting and Watchtower Study, greatly helping those who could not read,” explains Joyce Willis, a Canadian pioneer who spent more than 40 years in Papua New Guinea. Picture sermons painted on canvas were also used as teaching aids at assemblies. “These large paintings were very popular and impressed key teaching points on the mind of the audience,” says Mike Fisher, who served in the circuit work there. “Many of the paintings ended up hanging in the homes of isolated publishers, who proudly used them to witness to visitors.”

      Decades later, when more people learned to read and write and illustrated literature became widely available, picture sermons were discontinued.