A Better World Is Near!

Communities in Arkansas will be among the thousands around the globe that will receive a powerful message of hope this November as Jehovah’s Witnesses embark upon a special campaign focusing attention on the Bible’s hope for a better world.

The goal of the campaign is to distribute a special edition of The Watchtower magazine containing the cover series, “A Better World is Near.” More than 36 million printed copies of the magazine are expected to be distributed in some 230 languages to communities in 240 lands around the globe. In addition, the digital publication is available on various platforms in nearly 400 languages.

“People are longing to hear a positive message, and this is the best news possible,” said Robert Hendriks, U.S. Spokesman for Jehovah’s Witnesses. “A better world is not just a dream, it’s inevitable. In fact, it is the central theme of the entire Bible.”

The magazine addresses the age-old “doomsday” question “Is this world going to end?” with a comforting answer that may surprise many readers. While many religions have predicted the “end of the world,” the magazine reveals the Bible’s clear message: the earth is here forever and will never end! However, the magazine also explains the powerful truth that wickedness will soon be gone, quoting the Bible book of Psalms where it promises that the “lawless one” will be no more. (Psalm 37:10, Rotherham translation)

This positive message has been the hope of millions around the world who have prayed for ‘God’s Kingdom to come,’ a familiar refrain of many Christians taught by Jesus in what some refer to as the Lord’s Prayer.

Two Arkansas couples share how that positive message affected their lives.

Little Rock residents Kyle and Savanna Long began dating in high school and had to rely heavily on each other for support. Kyle came into the relationship with a severe substance abuse addiction.

“I got into trouble at 13 years old and had a pretty nasty smoking habit,” explains Kyle. “I moved in with a relative with a substance abuse problem and by high school I was doing and selling drugs. There wasn’t any purpose in my life.”

Adds Savanna, “He was very hard-hearted, not empathetic, angry about everything. I was lonely and depressed. I decided to pray.”

Soon after, the couple began studying the Bible with Jehovah’s Witnesses and they were baptized in 2019.

“I started to see the world differently,” says Kyle. “Everyone was not out to get me. Once I was able to understand that, then I was able to start treating people as a brother or sister, not as a potential threat or enemy.”

Savanna adds that studying the Bible, “changed us as people, it softened our hearts.”

In Conway, Adam and Aerial Clay were self-proclaimed hippies ─ long hair, smoking, drunkenness, and using and selling drugs. Although they loved their party lifestyle, the couple admits that there was no real stability or happiness. At the time, they were unmarried and serious communication breakdowns were testing the relationship.

Says Aerial, “You’re trying to drown out whatever’s going on with party, party, party! Then when you don’t have a party, reality sets in and it would get depressing.”

All that changed when the Clays began studying the Bible with Jehovah’s Witnesses. It wasn’t easy, but they gradually abandoned their self-destructive habits, got married, and learned to resolve issues with healthy communication. Grateful for the stability and purpose the Bible’s message brought to their lives, the couple now devote 70 or more hours each month to sharing this hope with others.

“It feels like a thousand pounds of stress lifted off you,” explains Adam. “We actually now have a hope.

Adds Aerial, “Knowing that God is going to undo all the wrong and that we’ll finally get to live life the way God intended humanity to live in the first place --- that’s a good anchor!”

The Bible’s comforting hope for the future by means of God’s Kingdom had a profound effect on both couples, changing their lives for the better.

The Watchtower has been carrying a similar message about God’s Kingdom for more than 100 years and remains the most widely translated and circulated magazine in the world. The 2021 number two edition is available free online at jw.org, where anyone can also request a free printed copy by scrolling down on the homepage to “Request A Visit.”

Click below for a direct link to the online version of the magazine:

https://www.jw.org/en/library/magazines/watchtower-no2-2021-may-jun/