look for and note points that would best fit people in your territory.

IN THE FIELD

⁶ All our advance preparation will not help those in need of the information in The Watchtower and Awake! unless we get out in the field. If we appreciate these magazines, we will regularly set aside time to engage in the magazine activity. Make a special effort to support field service arrangements on the second and fourth Saturdays of every month. Make it your goal to increase your magazine distribution, if possible. Keep in mind the importance of knowing what is contained in each issue. Do not hesitate to offer them at every opportunity. Prepare well so as to do your utmost in handling the word of truth aright.​—2 Tim. 2:15.

Presenting the Good News​—Following Up on Expiring Subscription Slips

¹ Calling on people whose Watchtower and Awake! subscriptions are soon to expire provides an excellent opportunity to give a further witness. The groundwork has already been laid, and the householder has been receiving one or both of the magazines regularly for some time. Although some will not have read everything in each issue, they have had spiritual food coming into their home on a regular basis to remind them about Jehovah and his Kingdom blessings.

² Expiring Subscription slips should be given to the one who obtained the original subscription. But because of publishers moving or subscriptions being sent in by someone from another congregation, you may have opportunity to follow up on an Expiring Subscription slip. What view should we take toward making one of these return visits?

THE PROPER VIEW

³ We should go with a positive attitude toward giving a further witness and, of course, encouraging the person to resubscribe. Maybe the householder was not ready to study when he originally subscribed, but now, after receiving the magazine for a year, his viewpoint may have changed.

⁴ What can be done to give subscribers the best possible service and to help the Society process subscription renewals promptly? Some points for consideration are: (1) Those handling subscriptions should be prompt in getting the Expiring Subscription slips into the hands of the brothers so that a return visit can be made to renew the subscription. (2) Publishers should have the slip with them when making the return visit and use it if the person resubscribes, rather than using a blank subscription slip. This makes it unnecessary to return the address portion of the magazine wrapper. (3) All subscriptions should be turned in at the very next meeting if at all possible. In turn, these should be mailed to the Society EACH WEEK even if there is only one to be sent.

WHAT COULD YOU SAY?

⁵ When calling on someone whose subscription is about to expire, what could we say that would stimulate interest in reading the magazine? Would a direct approach be best, just advising the person that the subscription is to run out soon and inviting him to renew it? This may bring results in some cases. However, it is often found that the subscriber’s interest has waned if someone has not been calling on him regularly. So it may be necessary to revive the initial interest.

⁶ After introducing yourself, you might say: “I am making a special effort to visit people in the community who have been receiving The Watchtower (or Awake!) through the mail this past year. I hope you have been enjoying it as much as I have.” A brief pause at this point would give the householder an opportunity to comment on whether he has been able to read many of the articles. You could then go on to say: “Here in the current issue is an article I especially enjoyed. [Give subject or title of article. A few additional comments about the article may be appropriate.] We have just received a notice that your subscription will soon be expiring (or has expired) and we do not want you to miss a single issue. I would be happy to send in the renewal for you. The cost is just $4.00 for the entire year.” The householder may choose not to renew at that time, but if you discern there is still some interest, arrangements could be made to call again.

⁷ Remember that our purpose is to teach people the truth and to share in the vindication of Jehovah’s great and holy name. Aside from The Watchtower and Awake! there are no magazines on the face of the earth that serve the divine purpose. What a blessing comes to the household receiving and regularly reading these magazines! Let us do our part by making good use of the Expiring Subscription slips.

October Service Report

Av. Av. Av. Av.

Pubs. Hrs. Mags. R.V. Bi.St.

Sp’l Pios. 295 131.2 101.6 56.5 5.8

Pios. 44,106 88.7 52.1 31.4 3.1

Aux. Pios. 53,927 60.7 37.6 17.2 1.4

Pubs. 604,676 9.7 7.5 3.7 0.4

TOTAL 703,004

Newly Dedicated Ones Baptized: 2,949

The October report shows that 14 percent of our total publishers are in the pioneer service. The new peak of 44,106 regular pioneers is 1,897 more than our September peak and 8,643 more than October of last year.

Theocratic News

◆ Australia was happy to conclude the past service year with a new peak of 42,453 publishers for August.

◆ Burma also had a new peak of 1,352 publishers in August.

◆ Central African Republic had a new peak of 1,320 publishers reporting for August.

◆ Honduras broke through the 4,000 mark with 4,065 publishers reporting activity during August, an 18-percent increase over last year’s average.

◆ India had a new peak of 7,410 publishers for August.

◆ Tahiti had a new peak of 622 publishers​—an 11-percent increase—​in August. The district convention was attended by 1,280, and 23 were baptized.

◆ New Zealand had a new peak of 9,143 publishers and a new peak of Bible studies in August.

◆ Uruguay saw all-time peaks of 5,329 publishers and 7,502 Bible studies in August. The congregation publishers averaged 11.1 hours in the service.

Congregation Book Study

Schedule for congregation studies in the book United in Worship of the Only True God:

January 5: Pages 65, par. 9 to 69

January 12: Pages 70 to 74, par. 10

January 19: Pages 74, par. 11 to 80, par. 6

January 26: Pages 80, par. 7 to 82, par. 12

Topic for Conversation

What Does the Future Hold for You?

Rev. 1:1​—God reveals what will shortly take place.

Rev. 21:3, 4​—You can have a happy future promised by God.