Kingdom Proclaimers Report
They Found a Reason to Change
CAN gang members and violent persons change their conduct? What could help them to do so? Dramatic changes in conduct are possible as seen in the case of Saul of Tarsus, who changed from persecuting Christians to becoming a Christian himself. He was thereafter known as the apostle Paul. (Galatians 1:13, 14; 1 Timothy 1:13) Similar dramatic changes are reported from Kenya.
◻ One young man was a gang member in the Nairobi area and was sent to western Kenya to scout out the possibilities for bank robberies there. He took up lodging with an elderly man and found a stack of old Awake! magazines in his house. The young man became so engrossed in reading these magazines that he completely forgot about his plans for bank robberies. When he had read everything, he asked for more, and the elderly man told him that one would be coming every two weeks by mail. From then on the young man implored his host to go to the post office every day to look for more magazines. In the meantime, he made the decision to abandon his bad ways, to follow what he had learned from the magazines, and to become a Witness of Jehovah. He even started telling the neighbors that he was one of Jehovah’s Witnesses. Later, a special pioneer worked the territory and was startled to find this young man claiming to be a Witness. A Bible study was started with him, he gained maturity, and today he is a regular pioneer. Accurate Bible knowledge gave him a reason to change his life.
◻ A man in Argentina also found a reason to change his violent way of life. For 20 years, he had badly mistreated his wife, who was a Witness. It was said that he even dug a hole in his yard with a cross at its top, with a view to killing the person who was stealing his chickens and burying him there. Because of the man’s mean character, all the neighbors avoided him.
The circuit overseer called on him. While there, the circuit overseer offered the man a Bible study and was surprised when he said that he would be glad to study the Bible. The brother studied the brochure Enjoy Life on Earth Forever! with him. The man progressed in Bible knowledge and spiritual understanding. He is now attending all the meetings. He likes the meetings and association with the brothers so much that he said, “This is where I want to live.”
The change in this man was so remarkable that the neighbors asked his wife which doctor was treating him. When she explained that the change had occurred because he was studying the Bible with Jehovah’s Witnesses, one neighbor was so impressed that she asked for a Bible. Another neighbor subscribed to one of our magazines.
Accurate Bible knowledge gave these men a reason to change their way of life. It can help anyone who desires a more meaningful life now and a hope for eternal life in God’s promised new world.—John 17:3.