Kingdom Proclaimers Report
“The Sheep Listen to His Voice”
□ JESUS said: “The sheep listen to [the shepherd’s] voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.” (John 10:3) He further added: “I know my sheep and my sheep know me.” (John 10:14) Sheeplike ones listen to Jesus’ voice as he speaks to them through the Bible. Notice how two honesthearted persons in Italy followed this course.
He Finally Listened
□ Alberto writes: “I was 16 when I started smoking marijuana and taking LSD, and at 18 I went on to using heroin. In order to procure the drugs, I did everything imaginable. I stole, I pushed drugs, I swindled, I sold all my belongings. I just could not stop. Vacations abroad, long periods in the countryside, or political involvement with extremist groups bent on combating injustice—none of these things helped. I tried marriage, but after a while I was back where I started. Not even the arrival of a baby girl stopped me from taking drugs. In fact, things got worse, since I now needed more money. Then my wife left me, and in two years of living alone, I saw my daughter only twice. I was on the run from drug pushers to whom I owed money, and many times I suffered from withdrawal symptoms.
“Then I remembered a book that Jehovah’s Witnesses had given me some years earlier. I still had it and started reading it together with the Bible. In this way I came to know the true God, Jehovah, and I prayed to him for help. As I gradually put into practice the things I was learning, my withdrawal symptoms became less harrowing. I found a job, and with Jehovah’s help I got my family back together. I went to the Kingdom Hall, and there I realized that Jehovah’s Witnesses have the truth. Reunited, my wife and I studied the Bible with the Witnesses and eventually were baptized. Now, what a joy it is to share our hope with others as regular pioneers!”
A Devout Woman’s Prayer Answered
□ A woman reports: “In 1958, I was actively engaged in parish activities, particularly in pilgrimages to the Sanctuary of the Madonna of the Divine Love in Rome. In time I became a close friend of a cardinal who was the vicar of Rome, and I had many private conversations with Popes Paul VI and John Paul II. After 25 years of organizing pilgrimages, I received a diploma of merit. However, in time my faith as a fervent Catholic began to waver. I noticed thefts, swindles, nepotism, and strange trafficking. I began to see the church through different eyes as I realized that God’s law was very often trampled underfoot. Such things disturbed me, and I asked God to help me because I was losing my faith. I cried often.
“Then, four years ago, my son brought me some copies of The Watchtower and Awake! that he had obtained from Jehovah’s Witnesses. The magazines were so interesting that I asked him to get me some more. Soon after that I found a Kingdom Hall of Jehovah’s Witnesses and left a note on the door asking for someone to visit me. The Witnesses came four days later. I began a Bible study and made progress to the point of baptism. Now I am sure I have finally found what I have always been seeking—the truth!”
These individuals listened to the voice of the Fine Shepherd, Jesus Christ, and ‘the truth set them free.’—John 8:32.
[Picture Credit Line on page 14]
Garo Nalbandian