Others Noticed Their Faith

MANIFESTING full faith in Jehovah God when one is under a trialsome situation may move sincere observers to investigate the Bible’s message. An example of this involves a couple in Kansas who were prominent members of the Methodist church there.

The wife had studied five different religions quite thoroughly before settling down to be a Methodist. She was very active in church affairs and taught Sunday school for a number of years. Her husband, however, had no interest in religion. He merely went along to please her and helped in the church by passing the collection plate each Sunday. He never had enough interest in religion or God even to open the Bible to read it.

Not too long ago, this couple’s relatives who are Jehovah’s witnesses lost a young daughter in death. So they kindly invited the Witness parents of the deceased girl to stay in their home while the funeral arrangements were being made. The faith and strength that this Witness couple manifested deeply impressed the Methodist man and his wife. They noticed that the Witnesses did not grieve excessively as people often do at such times. 1 Thess. 4:13.

This Methodist couple also attended the funeral service conducted by one of the Witnesses. The clear explanation of why man dies and the hope of the resurrection impressed them. (Rom. 5:12; John 5:28, 29) So they began studying the Bible with Jehovah’s witnesses. For the first time, the husband opened the Bible with keen interest in its message of truth.

After just two Bible study sessions, this couple requested that their names be removed from the church’s membership roll. During their third study, they were invited to attend the Sunday meetings at the local Kingdom Hall of Jehovah’s Witnesses. They expressed surprise that they could attend the meetings so soon after having started their Bible study. The following Sunday they went to the Hall with the lesson in their copies of the Watchtower magazine studied.

Soon after this they made a special trip to California to tell their son about their new-found faith and the Bible truths that were now bringing them so much joy. The son expressed a favorable attitude toward what they told him and has since made an effort to get in touch with the Witnesses in his vicinity.

When the couple returned home, the time had come for the International Assembly of Jehovah’s witnesses to be held in Kansas City. They were invited to attend. Would they do so right after having returned home from a long trip and after having studied but a few weeks? Yes, they made the necessary arrangements to attend the assembly, and were there for most of the sessions. To top everything off, they met some of their relatives at this assembly whom they had not seen in years and who are now serving Jehovah.

There was no stopping them now. They began attending all the meetings at the Kingdom Hall and preparing for them in advance. Soon the wife began to help one of her Roman Catholic friends to learn the Bible. Neighbors began sitting in on this study; as many as five showed real interest in God’s truth. The Catholic friend has continued to progress and now desires to attend the meetings too.

Next, this couple joined the Theocratic Ministry School. Both have experienced the joy of giving their first talks. When they were in the Methodist church, holidays had played a very important part in their lives. But as they learned Jehovah’s viewpoint on these matters, things changed rapidly. A year ago Christmas was spent around a tree with their fleshly family. This time it was spent with their spiritual family of Witnesses sharing in the house-to-house ministry for the first time.

As a result of this couple’s learning God’s truth, many more persons have been reached by it. Their daughter and her family are now studying the Bible with the Witnesses and attending the meetings. Who could have known that the faith and hope manifested by the Witness couple whose daughter had died would bring such results? But happy results they were, because others noticed their faith.