‘That They Should Turn to God’
1 Explaining his ministry, the apostle Paul said to King Agrippa: “To the nations I went bringing the message that they should repent and turn to God.” (Acts 26:20) Paul showed intense concern for people of all kinds, urging them to turn to God. We all should have that same concern, shouldn’t we?
2 People cannot call on Jehovah if they have not heard about him. They need someone to preach to them, and that is why we engage in the field ministry—in all its various forms. (Rom. 10:13, 14) When we call on them from house to house, we direct their attention to what God says in his Word. We do the same thing in incidental witnessing. And by placing Bible literature we also endeavor to turn them to God. But, in most cases, these earlier contacts with the truth need to be followed up by a home Bible study if they really are going to become praisers of Jehovah.
3 In some territories it is not at all difficult to start Bible studies, while in other areas people do not respond as favorably. Regardless of whether your offer of a home Bible study is accepted or not, it is good to make sure that people know about it. Who knows? It may start them thinking, and perhaps they will agree to study when another Witness calls.
4 Recognizing the value of home Bible studies in the work of making disciples, we all do well to seek to improve our effectiveness in starting studies. Many suggestions have been offered in Kingdom Ministry. Some may suit you better than others. One approach may be better for a certain situation than another. But they all require practice. If we have learned various methods, we can be versatile. Perhaps we can beneficially work on involving the householder in conversation, asking timely questions and then learning to listen to what he says. This may stimulate his interest, opening the way for a study. To improve your effectiveness in starting home Bible studies, do you ever practice your presentation on another member of your family or another publisher and discuss it together?
5 Perhaps you have never conducted a Bible study. You may often have thought that you would like to, but you wondered whether you could really do it. Here is a suggestion: Go to someone in the congregation who does conduct Bible studies and has had success in aiding others to become praisers of Jehovah. Ask that publisher if you can go along with him a few times to observe how he handles his studies. This will enable you to benefit from his experience. Then, with faith that Jehovah will help you, offer your own services to the people on whom you call. Let them know that you would be glad to conduct a regular Bible study with them free of charge.
6 Even if you do not yet feel qualified to conduct a study, you can still let people know about the free home Bible study arrangement. Then, if you find someone who shows interest in a study, take along another publisher who has had experience in conducting studies. The Bible study servant or your book study servant will be happy to arrange for someone to go with you on the return call. In this way we can effectively work together in both finding and feeding these sheeplike ones.