The Truth Book Can Help to Build a Healthy Faith
1 Of which bound book have you placed the most in recent years? Is it the Truth book? For many of us it is. When the Truth book was released at the “Good News for All Nations” District Assembly of Jehovah’s Witnesses in 1968, its first printing amounted to 1,500,000 copies. Today, in 1971, this outstanding Bible study aid is being printed and distributed in 67 languages and the latest figures indicate that 35,000,000 copies have been printed. That is about one copy for every 100 persons in the world. And the Truth book is a publication you enjoy offering in the ministry, isn’t it?—because it is easy to understand, it considers practical subjects and it is such a fine publication to use in the Bible study work.
2 During May it will be our pleasure to offer the Truth book to the people in our territory, our friends, relatives and acquaintances as we seek to help them to grow healthy in the faith needed in these critical days. Offer it to persons who subscribed for The Watchtower and Awake! Encourage them to obtain, read and study a copy of the Truth book. They will be greatly benefited if they do.
3 You may continue using the same Scriptural presentation we used during the Watchtower campaign if you wish. (See the December 1970 Kingdom Ministry, page 2.) Or, you may present the Truth book in some other way if you wish. If you are having good success with the theme “The Government That Will Solve Man’s Problems,” you will find that this ties in nicely with Chapter 12 in the Truth book, “Righteous Rule Makes Earth a Paradise.” Notice how the first few sentences in the chapter tie in with your theme.
4 If some individuals already have a copy of the Truth book, feel free to offer other publications of the Society, such as the Word of God or Evolution book, or The Watchtower and Awake! But especially try to start a study. Sometimes all it takes is an expression of pleasure over the fact that the householder has a copy and then a kindly inquiry: ‘May I show you something in the book that was very interesting to me?’ Then you can read them a paragraph or two on a subject that particularly appeals to you. You can look up the scriptures cited, to show how these provide further enlightenment on the subject. One sister, when observing that the householder has learned a new point, will often say: ‘Isn’t it interesting! Would you like to read another paragraph or two?’ Perhaps you can have success in getting a Bible study started by following such a simple procedure too.
5 There have been occasions where publishers have completed a study of the Truth book with interested people in less than six months. You may have experienced this too. The 1971 Yearbook, on page 207, mentions a lady from Mexico who came in contact with the truth through a gift subscription for The Watchtower. Learning of the circuit assembly, she traveled some distance to attend. The district servant and his wife noted her sincere interest and her desire to help the people in her small village to learn the truth. Because this interested person would be in the city only a short time and then would be flying back to her village in the mountains, an intensive study program was arranged for her. During the week they studied for thirty hours. The Truth book was completed, and when the interested woman returned to her isolated village she was better prepared to help others. In fact, the Yearbook reported that she was conducting eight studies and that fifteen of these were attending the Watchtower study being conducted in that isolated area.
6 Isn’t an experience like that encouraging? And doesn’t it motivate you to urge interested ones to study the Truth book and then to begin to act on what they learn from God’s Word? As we all have a full share in the field ministry during May we are confident that Jehovah will bless us in our efforts to use the Truth book to help others build a healthy faith.