The Power of Hope

West Des Moines, Iowa, is one of the thousands of communities around the globe receiving a powerful message of hope as Jehovah’s Witnesses focus attention on the Bible’s promises for a better world and distribute a special edition of The Watchtower magazine entitled “A Better World Is Near.”

Of the more than eight million participating worldwide in the campaign, thousands are local volunteers in Iowa communities like West Des Moines and Sioux City.

Marigold Adams, 85, is one such volunteer. The bright hope of a better world has helped the Sioux City resident successfully weather decades of adversity, and she is eager to share it with others.

“There’ve been some really dark times in my life when a person might give up, but I never did,” she said. “I’ve drawn encouragement from that real hope.”

The darkest period of all for Adams – and the time that cherished hope proved especially crucial - began when her late husband was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma in 1984, when their daughter was just nine years old. He managed to battle the disease for seven more years before, sadly, he passed away, leaving behind a devastated Marigold and their 16-year-old daughter.

Adams said her faith in God and the Bible’s promise of a better future stabilized and comforted her through that heart-wrenching time, just as it has helped her deal with other difficult situations since, including her recent heart attack. “I always kept praying,” she reflected. “I know that Jehovah God strengthened me to go on and be positive. I just kept thinking about the time when in the future things like that won't happen.”

Of course, Adams still misses her husband. And in recent years she herself has begun to wrestle with multiple health issues compounded by the frustrations of aging. Yet Adams remains positive and resilient thanks to the Bible’s promise of better times ahead, and she is confident the same hope will help others too. “My advice is go to the Scriptures,” Adams recommended, “no matter what trial you’re facing. That helps you to comprehend that things are not always going to be this way.”

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.

“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 Watchtower No. 2 2021 edition 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! It also explains how 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)

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. More than 36 million printed copies of this edition are expected to be distributed in 240 lands around the globe. A digital version is also available in nearly 400 languages.

Click below for a direct link to the online magazine or call (718) 560-5600 for more information:
https://www.jw.org/en/library/...