Kingdom Proclaimers Report
Bible Truth Brings Family Unity and Happiness
A MARRIED couple in India who were members of a church of Christendom quarreled frequently. Often the husband beat his wife. They even tried to kill each other! On one occasion she boiled ghee (clarified butter) and brought it to him as if it were tea but then poured it on his face. Finally, the wife decided to commit suicide.
Could anything bring unity and happiness to this couple? Many would say no. But before committing suicide, the wife went to visit her daughter and son-in-law. They were having a Bible study with Jehovah’s Witnesses. She decided to listen, and her heart was greatly moved by what she heard. After the study, she told the Witnesses about her problems. They showed her from the Bible what her responsibilities really were as a wife. The husband was also contacted and a Bible study was started with him. The result? By both husband and wife applying Bible principles, their family problems were overcome. Now the couple have progressed to the point of dedicating their lives to Jehovah, and they have been baptized.
Countless other couples have found that God’s inspired Word does contain the solution to family problems. By applying its counsel, such as that found at Colossians 3:12-14 and Ephesians chapter 5, they overcome these problems and attain unity and happiness.
□ Another example of how Bible truth can unite a family comes from Lebanon. In 1973 one of Jehovah’s Witnesses started a Bible study with a family in a small village. Two girls, sisters, from the neighborhood also attended the study. But when the local priest opposed the study, the family stopped it. The two girls continued to study by correspondence, using their sister-in-law’s address. After they studied the letters from the Witness, they gave them to their sister-in-law to read, although her husband was by now opposed. When they had questions, they asked the Witness by mail.
However, their brother continued his opposition. He tore up the Bible publications that his sisters and his wife had and even burned their Bibles. But despite severe censuring by the family, the priest, and others in the village the girls continued to study. In time, they got baptized. Other relatives also began to study the Bible and were baptized. The opposed brother of the two girls learned the truth too and got baptized. He now serves as a ministerial servant in the congregation, and is a regular auxiliary pioneer. By the end of 1985, 23 members of this family had learned the truth and had been baptized!
How happy those two sisters are for sticking to the truth despite opposition! What a joy for them to see the unity and happiness of their family as a result of their accepting Bible truth! It confirms the words of the psalmist when he declared: “Happy is the people whose God is Jehovah!”—Psalm 144:15.
□ Yet another experience comes from New York City, U.S.A. This person started using drugs when he was 13 years old and became so addicted that he could not even eat until he had smoked marijuana! His cocaine habit cost $100 a day, and while selling drugs he always carried two handguns. He married and fathered four children. When his wife became one of Jehovah’s Witnesses, he opposed her. But eventually he became bored with his life-style of getting high and “running the streets,” committing adultery.
With constant encouragement from his wife and loving help from the elders, he agreed a year after his wife’s baptism to study the Bible. This helped him to cope with major withdrawal problems including hallucinations. He progressed to the point of baptism and now has the joy of seeing his family happily united and his four children progressing in the truth. Having steady employment and a good income, he and his wife look forward to sharing in the auxiliary pioneer service.
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“Happy is the people whose God is Jehovah!”—Psalm 144:15