Rioting Cannot Stop the Good News
ONE day last February, Venezuela’s long anticipated new economic package was announced. Prices were being raised more than 100 percent on basic food items like milk, flour, and bread. Gasoline prices would increase 90 percent. Transportation fares were authorized to go up 30 percent. The country was stunned. Suddenly, on Monday, February 27, people reacted by rioting nationwide.
The next morning, things had reached a crescendo of destruction and looting. Gunshots echoed in a number of places. Young and old raged through city streets, leaving behind a trail of destruction that resembled a war-scarred battlefield.
That afternoon the country’s president declared a state of emergency and suspended constitutional guarantees for ten days. A curfew was instituted for the hours between 6:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m. The next day, the minister of defense announced that the curfew would continue in effect until further notice. The military used its authority to take control of the streets, enter homes without authorization, and stop and search people. “Two hundred dead and one thousand wounded in three days of disturbances,” reported one newspaper.
How were the congregations of Jehovah’s Witnesses faring during the crisis? The brothers were counseled: Be prudent and avoid trouble areas. Adjust meeting times to comply with the curfew, and avoid preaching in large groups. Yet, the preaching of the good news of God’s Kingdom went forward.—Matthew 24:14; 28:19, 20.
Because the unbelieving husband of a certain Christian woman was worried about her welfare if she stepped out of the house to preach, he forbade her to leave. “You don’t understand that I have an obligation to fulfill,” she told him. “So come now! I am going to study the Bible with you!”
This was the first time in this woman’s 22 years as a Witness that her husband expressed a willingness to study the Bible. Still he cautioned: “All right, as long as you promise not to go out. But don’t ask me questions, just read to me.” Nevertheless, the sister studied with him for an hour and a half. “It was a model study, the best study I have ever had in my 22 years in the truth,” she said, as tears welled up in her eyes.
In another case, a regular pioneer was sweeping the sidewalk outside her home when she was approached by a lady who would not generally listen to the Witnesses when they visited her home. “I haven’t seen you Witnesses preach lately,” said the woman. “Don’t tell me you’re not going to preach anymore!”
The sister explained that they had stopped preaching from house to house only during the rioting. “But the day will come when we will not preach to people anymore, and that will mean the end of the world,” said the sister. “You should take advantage of the opportunity now and accept a Bible study in your home.”
“When can we make arrangements?” the lady quickly asked. Right then and there arrangements were made to start a home Bible study.
Thankfully, the unrest ceased, allowing the country’s affairs to return to normal. Yet, in such tense situations, it is a comfort to know that soon a new world of tranquillity and security will be here. God’s Word promises: “There are new heavens and a new earth that we are awaiting according to his promise, and in these righteousness is to dwell.” (2 Peter 3:13) And as long as God permits, Jehovah’s Witnesses will continue to preach the good news of the Kingdom.
[Pictures on page 31]
Unrest did not stop Kingdom proclaimers
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Photograph by Publicaciones Capriles, Caracas, Venezuela.