Kingdom Proclaimers Report
They Changed Their Way of Life
NO DOUBT you have seen them talking to others on the streets, making calls from house to house, or attending Christian meetings in their Kingdom Halls. We are speaking about the well-groomed youths of Jehovah’s Witnesses. You may have concluded that they are Witnesses because their parents taught them to be such, and that is the case with many of them. On the other hand, there are some of these young people who have a very different background and whose former way of life was completely unlike the life that they are now leading. In fact, those shown on the following page used to associate with groups in which crime and drug abuse were everyday occurrences. What made them change their lives so completely? Let us visit a town in Norway and meet some of the young people who have made such changes.
The Foundation for the Change
When two Witnesses met Annette in the house-to-house work, she was 19. “I had often been told never to talk to Jehovah’s Witnesses, but I was curious and invited them in,” she recalls. She had been a drug user since she was 11 and had been involved in several burglaries and car thefts.
The good news of the Kingdom appealed to her. She was especially encouraged by the resurrection hope, having lost her mother at the age of five. So she accepted a free Bible study and started coming to the meetings at the Kingdom Hall. She told her boyfriend and others what she was learning. The reaction? They wanted nothing to do with it and accused Annette of being brainwashed. Nevertheless, some of those who were most opposed later started to study the Bible.
As an example, take Espen, a young man of 20. He heard about the Kingdom good news from Annette’s boyfriend and at once wanted a Bible study. However, he was waiting to serve a prison sentence of four months, as he had been involved in smuggling drugs and, like Annette, in several burglaries. He was also a user of tobacco, marijuana, and other drugs. Now, what could make a person who had been involved in such things want to start studying the Bible? Espen began to realize the emptiness and lack of purpose in his way of life. He relates: “I was attracted by the Bible’s promises of a future that gave me a purpose in life. So I started to study in order to find out if I had been told the truth.”
Others Want to Study the Bible
About this time, a young man from the same circle of young people got to hear the good news, and he also started studying and attending meetings. Next, a study was started with another of these youths, and he began attending meetings. Shortly after, yet another young man joined his friends in studying the Bible and in making spiritual progress. Then still another youth in the same group was impressed by the positive changes his friends were making, and within a short time, he wanted to study the Bible.
Gilbert, a young musician from the same group, now started to study the Bible. His parents had both died of cancer, so he was comforted by the Bible’s hope of a resurrection. (John 5:28, 29) He too was using marijuana and leading a debauched life, and he had ambitions to be a rock star. However, as time passed, he made fine spiritual progress and soon decided to become a Witness for Jehovah. Finally, Espen’s younger brother started investigating the Bible and associating with the Witnesses.
Bible Truth Changes Lives
A great change took place in these young people who used to be sloppily dressed, have unkempt hair, and be involved in drugs, thefts, and other crimes. Annette is a fine publisher of the Kingdom and served as a pioneer for about a year. Espen and Gilbert have served as auxiliary pioneers, and they are also ministerial servants. Both of them have married within the Christian congregation. Four more of the former group are also zealous Kingdom proclaimers!
What about the four-month sentence that Espen was to serve? Because of the changes he made in his life, his sentence was changed to 80 hours of community work. With the agreement of the police and of others, he spent these hours working at the local Kingdom Hall of Jehovah’s Witnesses. The police were very pleased with this arrangement.
Yes, many other young people all over the world have a criminal background. But the truth of God’s Word has given them answers to vital questions and a sure hope for the future. Hence, they are no longer criminals or drug users, and they do not go about sloppily dressed. Having changed their way of life, they are exactly like the people mentioned above—young, well-groomed, and active Witnesses of Jehovah. They want to make known to others the Bible’s lasting solutions to the problems so many young people have today.—See 1 Corinthians 6:9-11.
[Picture on page 8]
Norwegian youths respond to the truth