‘A Better World is Near’

Louisville, Kentucky, will be one of the thousands of communities 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.

It’s the hope that supported Louisville resident Valicia Starks through the illness and death of her son Terrell and daughter Dominique. Both were diagnosed with sickle cell anemia at an early age. Powerless to change their circumstances, Valicia sought to give the family a hope to hold on to.

“We read every scripture in the Bible that dealt with the resurrection,” said Valicia, who is one of Jehovah’s Witnesses. “Dominique would say, ‘Mommy, can you believe Jehovah is not going to allow any more death or sickness? I’ll be able to breathe better and run and plant flowers with you.’”

Dominique passed away at the age of 16 in 2005, and Terrell five years later at the age of 24. The Bible verses Valicia had read with her children comforted her in her grief, especially Revelation 21:3, 4, with its promise that eventually, “death will be no more, neither will mourning nor outcry nor pain.”

“That’s the hope that keeps me getting up each day and putting one foot in front of the other,” Valicia said. “That’s what I would want anyone that has lost loved ones to have.”

During November, Valicia is using the Watchtower cover series to share that hope of a better world with friends and neighbors.

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.”

For more information, please call (718) 560-5600.

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/