Readily Sharing Our Hope
New Peak of 446,311 Publishers Share
1 How delighted we were to see 446,311 sharing in the field ministry in March! This is 9,852 more than our previous all-time publisher peak in February, and an increase of exactly 22,000 publishers over last March. And what line enthusiasm was shown for the Lord’s work! Over a million hours more were devoted to the field ministry this March than a year ago. And 1,863,718 more magazines were placed and over 100,000 more return visits were made than in March 1972. What fine evidence this is of our confidence in the marvelous hope that God has given us and of our readiness to share it with our fellowman!
2 During June all of us will have splendid opportunities to demonstrate our readiness to share with others the source of our hope. We will be offering the New World Translation and Listening to the Great Teacher on a contribution of $1.25. The Bible can be featured whenever possible, but if persons say they have a Bible and are not interested in obtaining another one, you can offer the Great Teacher book alone. Its simplicity of expression and yet depth of thought will appeal to many adults and children alike.
3 As for sermon suggestions in connection with the offer, you may want to use John 17:17 and John 8:32 in combination or singly as the circumstances dictate. If a warm, friendly greeting is exchanged and some comment is made about the great need to hear the truth, as well as to speak the truth, it may be possible to read and perhaps discuss briefly either one or both of these scriptures. The majority of us have offered the New World Translation before, and we may have found a particularly successful presentation that we want to use. In this connection, one sister from New York State wrote recently about what she found effective:
4 “After giving the sermon, when offering the New World Translation, I would ask the householder, ‘How much do you think a person can get a Bible like this for?’ They would say $5.00 to $10.00. Even if they would reply that they didn’t know, I would tell them what others had said. When I told them that they could have a copy for only $1.00, you could see the amazement on their faces. Many said right away: ‘I’ll take it.’ ‘How do you do it?’ And this would then provide opportunity to explain our Bible study program and the printing operation of the Society.”
5 To help each one of us to feature God’s Word in our field ministry, the Society has provided something special it is a four-page folder that nicely describes the Bibles that we have available for the public, as well as a few of our Bible study aids. No doubt you have received your copy of this folder and have had opportunity to examine it. Only one per publisher is being provided; it is for your individual use. Please keep in mind that there will be no replacement, so take good care of yours. You may want to enclose it in some sort of protective covering.
6 Obviously, we cannot carry with us samples of all the Bibles and Bible study aids we have to offer. But we can show this folder, and a person can pick the publication he desires and we can bring it to him. Display it freely. Many honest-hearted ones may want the large-print New World Translation, available for $5.00, or the Kingdom Interlinear Translation for $2.00. There are also many other English as well as foreign Bible translations that can be obtained from the Society. And if people say they do not want a Bible, we can show them the folder’s description of Aid to Bible Understanding or “All Scripture Is Inspired of God and Beneficial,” which they may be interested in obtaining.
7 What should we do if, in our field ministry, we come to a clergyman’s house? Should we pass it by? No. Some of those men too have accepted the truth. You might show him the special folder, pointing out one of the Bible translations that you think he would enjoy, or perhaps Aid to Bible Understanding or the book Is the Bible Really the Word of God? These are excellent publications, and he may want one of them. (Acts 6:7) Clearly, we do not want to overlook anyone in our public ministry.