New Orleans was one of the thousands of communities around the globe that received a powerful message of hope in November as Jehovah’s Witnesses embarked upon a special campaign focusing attention on the Bible’s hope for a better world.
The goal of the campaign was 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 were 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.”
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The magazine addresses the age-old “doomsday” question “Is this world going to end?” with a comforting answer that may surprise many readers. While various 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.
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In March of 2020, New Orleans resident Robert Harris felt unusually ill, so he drove to the hospital and was promptly admitted due to low oxygen levels. As the pandemic was just beginning, Harris waited five days before learning that he was positive with COVID-19.
Initially, Harris was discharged to recover at home, but when his condition took a turn, he found himself hospitalized again. Alone in his room, Harris wrestled with anxious thoughts. “I felt like I wasn’t going to make it,” he said, “and so I was stressed out about how my wife would be taken care of.”
Meanwhile, fellow worshippers from the congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses that the Harrises attend rallied, giving them practical, emotional, and spiritual support. Harris said that help from his friends, together with his hope in the Bible’s promise for a better future, sustained him. “I knew if I died, I had a resurrection hope,” he said.
Harris has fully recovered and continues to stay positive by looking to the future. “I know this is not the life that God meant for mankind,” he said. “God has given us a hope for a better life: no more pain, no more suffering, no more death.”
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 for free online at jw.org, where anyone can 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/
LOCAL MEDIA REPRESENTATIVE:
Victor Batiz
