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Oceania2015 Yearbook of Jehovah’s Witnesses
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Too Young to Preach?
One morning, Teariki, a seven-year-old boy on the island of Tarawa, which is a part of Kiribati, was working with his father, Tueti, in the ministry when they entered a home and met a group of about ten men and women in their 20’s. After Teariki’s father shared the Kingdom message with the group, one of them said to Tueti: “We noticed that all of you are out preaching with your young children. Why do you make them come along? They are too young to preach about God.”
Tueti replied: “Would you like to see if my son is capable? Perhaps I could step outside, and you can hear what he has to say.” The group unanimously replied, “Yes, we’d like to hear from him.”
After Tueti stepped outside, Teariki asked the group, “Do you know God’s name?”
“Yes. It’s Jesus!” said one of them. “God,” said another. Still another said, “Lord.”
Teariki said: “Let’s find out what the Bible has to say. If we turn to Isaiah 42:5, we can read it together.” After reading the scripture, he asked, “Who is this scripture talking about?”
One young person replied, “God.” Teariki then said: “Yes, the true God. If we read on in verse eight, what does the true God tell us? ‘I am Jehovah. That is my name; I give my glory to no one else.’ Did you see what God’s name is?”
The group replied, “Jehovah.”
Now that everyone was paying attention, Teariki asked: “What is the benefit of using God’s name, Jehovah? We can turn to Acts 2:21 to find out. It reads: ‘Everyone who calls on the name of Jehovah will be saved.’ What is the benefit of using God’s name?”
A young person from the group said, “Our salvation.”
At this point Teariki’s father returned to the room. He then asked the group: “OK, what do you think? Are our young ones capable of preaching? Is it right for us to bring them with us?” The group unanimously agreed that the children were very capable and that it was right for them to participate in the preaching work. Tueti then said, “You too could share truths from the Bible, just as Teariki did, if you learned what it contains.”
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